Summer 2014
Culture I
How do games and play spring from not just our culture, but all cultures?
Culture I
Why is golf a good walk spoiled?
The Magic Circle
A finite space with infinite possibilities
Either concretely or abstractly marks the boundary of the game space
Defines a space that is enclosed, separate and temporary.
Once Inside the Circle
Creates a space of safety
Ritualized interactions govern gameplay
There can be role-playing and experimentation
Cheating is bad; breaking the circle, worse
The game ends when the circle is broken
Games as Rituals
Games are separate from the “real world” and exist within a frame
Frames communicate to players/audience that a game is being played
Frames are psychological but often have a physical component or can be completely abstracted by the rules themselves.
The frame is created when players decide that it is time to play.
First play, then games
Homo Ludens, a 1938 study by Johan
Huizinga
Play not only pre-dates civilization, it is a necessary condition for civilization
More than instinct, more than need, not an abreaction – not biological
Characteristics of Play
Free activity
Not serious
No material interest
Uncertain outcome
Outside of Life
Immersive
Bounded
Fixed dictates
First play, then games
Play is that which takes us out of ourselves: from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Theatre, ritual, games are all cultural expressions of this impulse.
Play requires... fun. And fun isn’t rational. Garneau’s 14 Forms of Fun
Beauty
Immersion
Problem Solving
Competition
Social Interaction
Thrills / Danger
Physical Activity
Love
Creation
Power
Discovery
Advancement
Using Ability
Comedy
Group Work
Break into groups and discuss how the
“14 Forms of Fun” relate to the games you played last week!
A More Formal Structure
Articulated by Roger Caillois in Man,
Play and Games (1958)
Caillois suggests that Huizinga is both too broad and too narrow
He re-affirms much of Huizinga: games are a manifestation of culture
De-Mystification
Masks – no longer sacred objects
Kites – in Asian societies, no longer spiritual... or even practical
Tag – originally the selection of sacrificial victims
Checkers – an instrument for divination in
Egypt
Ring Around the Rosies – the Black Death
Modes of Playing
Ludus is the notion of adding discipline, training, boundaries to play
This limits the free-form of play and sets boundaries as to what is possible
Players must use ever-greater patience, skill and ingenuity
Modes of Playing
Paidia is the exuberant, unrestricted, and emergent
The player moves away from structures and limits towards fantasy
Players revel in the spontaneity of the experience Classification: Agon
Competition to determine who is better at a thing, bounded by equality, fairness, and balance.
Can be physical or intellectual
Requires attention, application of skill, and a desire to win
Classification: Alea
Fortune’s favor is determined through chance, with a weighting of risk and reward providing balance.
Rather than active determination, players await the outcome
Attention, application of skill, training... these things are unimportant.
Classification: Mimicry
At one extreme, immersion – at the other, intense identification
Theatrics require immersing oneself to beguile an audience
Fan identification at wrestling events or the Final Four allows them to “share” the experience Classification: Ilinx
Experiences that momentarily up-end our perception
Can be harmless or destructive, ritualized or trivial
Industrial revolution allowed the gameification of vertigo
Modes of Playing
Agon
Alea
Paidia
Random feats and challenges Flipping a coin Ludus
Structured contests and tournaments Lotteries, stock markets
Mimicry
Vertigo
Children’s Childhood imitations racing about
High theatre Whirling dervishes Homework!
For next week, please:
read Rules of Play, Chps 3 & 7 play Risk online submit a journal of your game
That’s It!
Have a good night - any questions, please come find me at the front or send a message to mtoner@sfu.ca