What is a video game?

BASIC SUMMARY of each game, since you forgot to put it in the description:

I: Notes.exe
Write slightly blurry letters on a white screen. Just a less functional version of the default notepad program, but at least it comes with snazzy music

II: Button.exe
Hit any key to toggle a button's state, and also move it around randomly. Button position resets every ~2 seconds

III: Lost/Found in complexity.exe
Control a circle in a crowd of other overlapping circles using the arrows. Lost has all other circles identical to you whereas Found makes them transparent

IV: Un/Noticeable.exe
Counters count up whenever you hit a button. Unnoticeable makes them nearly the same color as the background so you have to look at your screen at a strange angle

V: auto/‍racing.exe
Dots move randomly to the finish line. One is labeled "you" and has its stats tracked, but you have no real control. Racing pauses the simulation before each race. Has a physical equivalent in the Derby Classic toy

VI: self/hold to play.exe
Like before, a dot is labeled "you" for no reason, except this time it's grabbing balls across the screen and ascending through levels. Hold pauses the simulation whenever you aren't holding the spacebar.

VII: Maze.exe
A pre-recorded playthrough of a Sokoban-esque game.
After one level is complete, another level shows up with a prompt to "imagine beating this level".

VIII: Imagine.exe
Super Mario from Super Mario stands still as two Koopas walk in place. Another "imagine" prompt shows up on-screen.

IX: Instructions.exe
Another "imagine" prompt, this time not even giving you an image or animation to base it on

X: Outside the screen.exe
Text that says "squeeze your hand"

XI: Interpret.exe
Text that says "daurkx wgkpc shf dstpojjbszz"

12: ----------.exe
Just a white screen

I wrote up my thoughts on each game as I played it ^^

1. Interesting, sitting and listening to notes. Is it a game? I hit the play button I guess. Listening to music sure is nice but I don’t think there’s much play really. After I read the note I saw that it’s supposed to be notes like the kind you write, not musical notes haha This reminds me of a time I was babysitting for a PTA meeting and we went to the computer lab but all the sites I could think of to play games were blocked so I just opened up a word document and it turned into story reading practice. After a little bit one of the other kids came by and said “I want to play that!” and I remember trying hard to not laugh because “I want to play microsoft word” was the funniest concept because to me, microsoft word is the site of painful essay writing and not enjoyment
2. I actually really liked this one because it got me to randomly keysmash harder than I ever have in my life - the button shakes a bit and I wanted to see how off-center I could get it and it went much further than I expected! It even kept shaking after I stopped, almost like I got it dizzy XD 
3. 1. I expected the entire screen to move and was surprised when it didn’t. I then spent a minute or so trying to figure out if I was any of these circles, maybe many, but didn’t see myself at all and gave up. I like your note about how no feedback means no fun! There was a thing on steam called Placid Plastic Duck Simulator on steam that I got awhile back that I was so excited to slowly float around as a plastic duck…only to find out that you do not control anything in the game, you just watch. Very disappointing, I’m glad you didn’t hype me up into being a plastic duck first. 2. So satisfying to finally see my guy! I like how sometimes even when I let go of the key it keeps going, my circle is doing laps on my laptop screen with no input from me, good for him B) Dude found what he loves in life quick and stuck to it! 
4. 1. Getting some real polar bear in a snowstorm vibes from this one. If a polar bear does ballet in a snowstorm, did it really happen? Hope he’s having a nice June. 2. Oh cool, I was a cookie clicker counter all along! Honestly I’ve never seen my keypresses counted like that, that is pretty neat. It’s funny to see when I type a normal sentence how the number just goes up instead of the words I’m typing, and how much faster they go when I go ham on the keys instead. I’m curious how this one differs from the last one to you.
5. 1. The odd one out being labelled ‘YOU’ made me think it was gonna be a rhythm game for a second there xD Is this how people feel watching sports? They have a guy to root for but zero impact (as far as I could tell anyhow) on the outcome? I sure did cheer my dot on and I’m pretty proud of them. 2. Pretty sure this is the same game again.
6. 1. Kinda reminded me of osu so I tapped my spacebar along to the beat, why not. Also reminded me of the screensaver on my cousins computer in the early 2000s which was colourful pipe generation that I definitely didn’t sit and watch for 10 minutes as a kid no way. 2. I like this one too! I again played it by pressing the spacebar in time with the beat but I held it for longer in between so the rainbow line would actually grow. This time while playing it reminded me of the Brain Age game where you connect each number to its letter of the alphabet, but Progression Quest
7. A sokoban let’s play? Just for me? Wow! If a sokoban game had a plot I cared about somehow I would definitely just watch the let’s play. I also love the double interpretation of “Now imagine completing this maze”, 1. Do it in your imagination 2. Envision a version of you who is capable of such a feat, that latter one sounding like a dare 
8. Love this warioware-looking SMB, you did great on the art (if it was you who created it). Funny enough, I can imagine the sprites of Mario jumping with his single raised fist and all. I definitely don’t enjoy these imagine ones as much, but I think that’s besides the point
9. I had trouble picturing anything at all for this one, I’m definitely more of a “what cool stuff can I do inside the box” rather than “what cool stuff can I do with a blank canvas” sorta guy. Reading the explanation, it reminds me of some game software that facilitates external play - for example, MyStylist for PSP which is about documenting and sorting your clothing so as to easier make outfits, or Barbie Fashion Designer for PC where you design clothes to print for your doll. I consider these both games even though the software themselves isn’t very game-y, because they get you to play, just in real-life and not a digital world the developers created.
10. Ha! Wow! This is pretty much exactly what I was just talking about
11. Is this what I typed earlier in game #2? Almost certainly not, but would be super cool if so haha
12. And this is game #4 again but now with serious music. If that was was a ballet this one is some sort of march

Thanks for making this! I didn’t know the definition of a video game beforehand and I still don’t (everything, absolutely everything is ill-defined and fuzzy at the edges even if we like to pretend it’s not) but I really enjoyed playing what you had to offer! I hope there are more digital toys in the future, they’re always some of my favourite experiences. 

I was thinking a lot about this stuff while developing my first game. At some point I realized that I stopped playing games while working on mine, because the actual experience of developing felt like a better version of the kind of experience I look for in my favorite types of games (exploration, puzzle)

ps.: Your game (??) should be in every school everywhere