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Callois
April 2015Digital Media Program, University of Lower Silesia Dr. Krystina MadejSchool of Literature, Media, and CommunicationGeorgia Institute of Technology
Games and Play
Play
• Play is ubiquitous in society• Play is central to human development• Play engages humans:
• cognitively• emotionally• socially• physically
Play
Dictionary definition:
To play is to engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than for a
serious or practical purpose
Man, Play and Games
1958 view of play (following Huizinga)Roger Callois (French sociologist, philosopher and literary critic)
•Objected that Huizinga did not study actual games•Contested Huizinga’s central premise of ritual as game
• play removes the nature of the mysterious• when the costume fulfills a sacramental function it
is not play as an institution is involved
•Added games of chance, played for money or gain which Huizinga had almost completely ignored
• gambling, casinos, racetracks
Content either directly from or paraphrased from Man, Play and Games, with additions and clarifications as required
Characteristics of Play
Fundamental aspects of play: voluntary, agreed upon, isolated, and regulated (p. 28)
1.Play is free2.Play is separate3.Play is uncertain4.Play is unproductive5.Play is governed by rules6.Play is make-believe
Characteristics of Play
1. Play is free“Playing is not obligatory as if it were it would lose its attractive and joyous quality as diversion.”
If you are forced to play, play becomes a constraint and it is no longer free.
Paul Valery’s (French poet, essayist, and philosopher) definition:
Play happens
•“when the players have a desire to play, and
•play the most absorbing, exhausting game
•in order to find diversion, escape from responsibility and routine.
•Finally and above all, it is necessary that they be free to leave whenever they please, by saying: “I am not playing any more.”
Characteristics of Play
2. Play is separate“Play is circumscribed within limits of space and time, defined and fixed in advance”
There is a place for play and nothing that takes place outside the play space is relevant. Often leaving the play space may either disqualify a player or involve a penalty.
The game begins and ends at a signal and its duration is fixed in advance. A player can’t leave the game and the game can’t be extended, without a reason.
Characteristics of Play
3. Play is uncertain“The course of play can not be determined, nor the result attained beforehand, and some latitude for innovations should be left to the player’s initiative”
Play is both a free and an uncertain activity. The outcome is in doubt until the end. The game is no longer fun when the outcome is known because one player is too skilful.
Characteristics of Play
4. Play is unproductive• Play neither creates goods, nor wealth, nor new
elements of any kind• Except for the exchange of property among the
players, play ends in a situation identical to that prevailing at the beginning of the game.
Characteristics of Play
5. Play is governed by rules“We play under conventions that suspend ordinary laws, and for the moment establish new legislation, which alone counts”
Games have only intrinsic meaning. Rules of ordinary life are replaced by •precise, arbitrary, unexceptionable rules •that must be accepted and •that govern the correct playing of the gameGames can also be “as if” performance or improvisation based. In this case. “as if” replaces and functions as the rules.
Characteristics of Play
6. Play is make-believe“Play is accompanied by a special awareness of a second reality or of a free unreality, as against real life”
Characteristics of Play
There remain games and entertainment that do not have all of these characteristics: kite-flying, crossword puzzles, patience.
Classification of Games
Four main rubricsAgonAleaMimicryIlinx
Classification of Games
Four main rubricsAgon: competition with set rulesAlea: games of chanceMimicry: games of make-believeIlinx: games of disorientation
Social Function of Games
The different categories of play presuppose not solitude but company
Social Function of Games
Socialized forms of categories of play:•Agon: sports, contests in which skill and chance are blended•Alea: casinos, racetracks, state lotteries, pari-mutuels•Mimicry: arts involving public spectacles, puppet shows, carnivals, masked balls•Ilinx: traveling shows with rides, amusement parks
Classification of Games
Two Original PrinciplesPaidiaLudus
Classification of Games
Two Original PrinciplesPaidia: uncontrolled fantasy
diversionturbulencefree improvisationcarefree gaiety
Ludus: inverse to capriciousness disciplineconventionsrules
Classification of Games
Paidea:SpontaneousImprovisedImpulsive
LudusRule DrivenStructuredDisciplined
Mimicry (Games of make believe)
Imaginary UniverseMake-BelieveIllusory Personas
Alea (Games of chance)
ChanceAppeal to FortuneSurrender to Destiny
Illinx (Games of disorientation)
DestabilizationPanic & ShockIntoxication
Agon (Competition with set rules)
CompetitiveDemonstrate SuperiorityArtificial Equality
Classification of Games
Activity of the player: underlying distinction •In the agon-alea pair and In the mimicry-ilinx pair the the former is active the latter is passive - he or she is the object of the forces acting in the game (turn of gaming wheel of fortune, elasticity of the bungee rope).
Paidea:SpontaneousImprovisedImpulsive
LudusRule DrivenStructuredDisciplined
Mimicry (Games of make believe)
Imaginary UniverseMake-BelieveIllusory Personas
Alea (Games of chance)
ChanceAppeal to FortuneSurrender to Destiny
Illinx (Games of disorientation)
DestabilizationPanic & ShockIntoxication
Agon (Competition + set rules)
CompetitiveDemonstrate SuperiorityArtificial Equality
Classification of Games
• In both agon and alea you play the game, • in both mimicry and ilinx the game plays you (You adopt
a new persona, take on a new role, feel scared or excited, or otherwise lose control of yourself)
Paidea:SpontaneousImprovisedImpulsive
LudusRule DrivenStructuredDisciplined
Mimicry (Games of make believe)
Imaginary UniverseMake-BelieveIllusory Personas
Alea (Games of chance)
ChanceAppeal to FortuneSurrender to Destiny
Illinx (Games of disorientation)
DestabilizationPanic & ShockIntoxication
Agon (Competition + set rules)
CompetitiveDemonstrate SuperiorityArtificial Equality
Classification of Games
Agency: underlying distinction
In the agon-mimicry and the alea-ilinx pairs the agency is with the player in the former whereas in the latter the player is part of the field of play.
Paidea:SpontaneousImprovisedImpulsive
LudusRule DrivenStructuredDisciplined
Mimicry (Games of make believe)
Imaginary UniverseMake-BelieveIllusory Personas
Alea (Games of chance)
ChanceAppeal to FortuneSurrender to Destiny
Illinx (Games of disorientation)
DestabilizationPanic & ShockIntoxication
Agon (Competition + set rules)
CompetitiveDemonstrate SuperiorityArtificial Equality
Classification of Games
Context•As we define Paidia and Ludus they are within the construct of Western European Society.•Other cultures have different understandings of play and of Paidia and Ludus: Note: this is a 1958 understanding)
Example: •Chinese culture is less directed toward purposive innovation•Need for progress and spirit of enterprise seems to be a not particularly creative compulsion•Rather then process, calculation and triumph, achievments are calm, patience, and idle speculation
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