Play and game definition

CHAPTER 2 – VIDEO GAME AND ARCHITECTURE

Games are “architecture’s final frontier” (Wiltshire 2007).

“Architecture is the art form closest to the gaming experience, not film or fiction, not painting, photography or sculpture. Only architecture completely enfolds us as thoroughly as gaming.” (Gust, 2009).

2.1. THE ACT OF PLAYING. PLAY, GAMES AND VIDEO GAMES.

“What are games? Are they things in the sense of artifacts? Are they behavioral models, or simulations of social situations? Are they vestiges of ancient rituals, or magical rites?” E. M. Avedon, The Structural Elements of Games" “Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and . . . Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Play and game definition

Playing activity has been considered since antiquity with Plato and Socrates as a fundamental activity, a

form of behavior, and a teaching method central to cultural, artistic, and social development. Ancient

Greeks referred to play on one side as children’s play or “paida” and on the other side as game activities for adults using the term “agon”. Latins intend play as cultural activities in terms of humanitarian studies and used only the word “ludus” to cover all play activities. Ludus or playing mode refers to both

children's toys which can be classified as non-play and recreational activities for enjoyment such as

drama, music play, dance, religious activities, and so on. All these actions fell within the realm of ludus

(alludo), which is an illusion unrelated to reality and free of rules. Toys are not based on specific

instructions or rules on how to play, neither they have a goal. On the contrary, play is goal oriented.

What differentiates them in relation to play and game according to (Adam, 2010) is the way we engage

and the presence or not of rules and goals. Playing can be defined as a recreation, joy expression, or

motoric activity and it includes also play or puzzles. Play refers to a single move dictated by a goal, while

the game is a more complete, complex, and accurate activity, an outcome somehow measurable. Games

are more structured activities and are based essentially on rules and goals.

Figure 27 Definition and complexity of Play and game concepts

“Play is a voluntary activity or occupation executed within certain fixed limits of time and space, according to rules freely accepted, and outside the sphere of necessity or material utility” (Huizinga,1938).

Huizinga considered play activity as a more structured activity based on rules and goals, in which adults

entertain themselves. Rules establish the object, meaning of game activities, and challenges offered by

the game, while the goals define the objectives of the game. In addition, Huizinga points out other

attributes of play.

[Play is] a free activity standing quite consciously outside "ordinary" life as being "not serious,

"but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with

no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its proper boundaries of

time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of

social groupings, which tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress their difference

from the common world by disguise or other means. (Huizinga,1938).

Play activity is considered a rule-based activity, beyond ordinary and serious activities, and is not related

to material interest. Still, it is an absorbing activity, outside the boundaries of real-time and space, with

the possibility to create a virtual social exchange. Huizinga considers play activity “as separated from ordinary reality” and within what he called “the magic circle”. Video games have proven to have broken the limit of the magic circle.

Figure 28 The magic circle as separated from real-world space

In his essay "Man, Play, and Games," published in 1958, French philosopher Roger Callois proposed a

distinction between "paidia," an equivalent of the English noun "play," which refers to free games for

children based on movement, and "Ludus," an equivalent of the English noun "game," which refers to

highly organized and regulated games for adults, such as sport and complex game activities, performed

with respect to certain rules. Paidia is defined as:

"… physical or mental activity which has no immediate useful objective, and whose only reason

to be is based in the pleasure experimented by the player" (Caillois, 2001)

Ludus is defined as:

" an activity organized under a system of rules that defines a victory or a defeat, a gain or a loss"

(Caillois, 2001)

Hence, the main distinction is related to the fact that play activities are simpler and don’t need a social component which is typically present in games for adults. Moreover,” Ludus” games have a goal and define losers or winners.

Caillois divides ludic activities into four categories:

1. Agon: play activities that depend on the competition: racing, soccer, basketball, physical sports,

chess (mind effort), boxing, etc.

2. Alea: games that depend on chance or luck. This is the main game experience parameter.

lottery, casino roulette.

3. Mimicry: role-playing games and simulation (imaginary or make-believe game). The ability to

play multiple roles is crucial in this game.

4. Ilinx: Activities that alter our common perception and where sometimes there is a risk of life and

vertigo: tightrope, bungee jump, skiing, and other extreme sports.

AGON ( Competition)

LUDUS soccer, basketball, chess, boxing

ALEA (chance)

lottery, casino roulette. MIMICRY ( simulation) ILINX (vertigo)

Theater, air flight tightrope, bungee jump, skiing

PAIDA Racing, athletic Heads or tail Children installation Games of illusion Swinging, waltzing

ACTIVE ACTIVE PASSIVE PASSIVE

Table 5 Caillois classification of ludic activities

Johan Huizinga (1938) Roger Caillois (1958)

David Parlett (1999) Bernard Suits (2005)

Clark C. Abt (1970)

Chris Crawford (2002)

Greg Costikyan

Elliot Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith ( 2015)

Terms used for PLAY and GAME Game/ play

PAIDA / LUDUS ACTIVE/ PASSIVE Definitions

“a voluntary within certain limits of time and space, according to rules and outside the sphere of necessity” Free play vs organized game with rules.

INFORMAL PLAY / FORMAL GAME

Rules/means/ objectives Ends/ means BOTH PLAY /GAME an engaging activity, goal-oriented

GAME/ SERIOUS GAME

COMPUTER GAME/ DIGITAL GAME

Activity among decision-maker, which has set objectives and has limitations

Activity Decision-maker Goals limitation

n/a

COMPUTER GAME/ DIGITAL GAME

GAME

“a form of art in which participants make the decision to manage resources, earn tokens and to pursuit goals”

“An exercise of voluntary control systems, with a contest between powers, confined by rules in order to produce a disequilibrium outcome”. Main elements

Social exchange Rules Inside a magic circle Rules, make believe Uncertain

Rules goals rules, goals, obstacles

Representation Interaction Conflict Safety Art Decision –Making Resource management Tokens Goals Control systems Voluntary and free; The contest between powers: The conflict between players. rules, Disequilibrium outcome

Table 6 Definitions of game and play by different authors

David Parlett made a distinction between play and game as “formal and informal games”. An informal game is a children’s play, while a formal game is a more structured game based on purposes and means or rules.

Bernard Suits in “Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia” defined play as:

“An engaging activity that orient player toward a specific goal, through rules accepted by the

player that make possible such activity”.

To Suits, the main elements that characterize playing activity are rules, goals, and obstacles.

1. In this regard, he traced a distinction between children’s play and serious play or deep play. 2. In both cases players are free to perform actions without real and direct consequences.

Clark C. Abt (1970) in Serious games, gave a narrower definition of a game as:

“an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their

objectives in some limiting context”.

He emphasized the need for mutual rules among rivals who make decisions to achieve certain goals.

The role and contribution of the numerous players are critical in his definition. He stresses the following

game elements: He highlights the following elements of the game: Activities or events; active

engagement of players and their decision making, setting goals, and responding to game constraints.

Chris Crawford highlighted four fundamental aspects of games in his classic book “The Art of Computer Game Design”: Representation: A game is set in a certain setting, and reality is both physical and

emotional. Interaction: The cause-and-effect relationship that holds things together. Conflict: Conflict

emerges spontaneously as a result of game engagement. The player is actively working toward a goal.

Obstacles keep him from effortlessly accomplishing this aim. Conflict is an inherent component of all

games. Safety: A game is a safe way to explore reality because the setting is artificial and there are no

immediate implications in the physical world.

Game designer Greg Costikyan, in his essay "I Have No Words and I Must Design” defined game as

“a form of art in which participants make decisions to manage resources, earn tokens and to pursuit goals”.

The key element of games according to Costikyan are Art, Decision-making player’s or player’s active participation and choice, Resource management, earning games tokens, Achieve Goals, or having an

objective.

Elliot Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith, two of the most renowned play and game authorities of the

twentieth century, gave an extremely concise definition of game in their book "The Study of Games".

“Games are an exercise of voluntary control systems, in which there is a contest between powers, confined by rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome.” (Avedon, Sutton-Smith,2015)

The key elements of this definition are: systems, Voluntary or free activity, Contest between powers,

the conflict between players, rules and limitations, outcome.

These definitions highlight different aspects of the game. Recently, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman in

their reference textbook for game design “Rules of Play”, based on the definitions by Johan Huizinga, Roger Caillois, and Brian Sutton-Smith formulated their own synthetic definition.

“A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results

in a quantifiable outcome.” (Salen, K., Zimmerman, E (2004).