Separate
Uncertain
Unproductive
Governed By Rules
Make-Believe
“Playing”, a term used to define a fun activity, group activity for competition, or even just to shed the feeling of boredom. Before reading Caillois’s chapter on The Definition of Play, I considered defining play myself. Coming up with a fun thing to do to relieve the mind, however the author goes broader than simply a “fun activity”. The definition of play by Caillois is summed up into 6 main points.
Playing a game is a free and voluntary act, something sought for joy and fun, without the freedom to play the act would cease to become enjoyable.
Play needs to be separate as it’s an extension of normal life. Consider for a moment that you’re an airline pilot, you’ve been flying planes for awhile and you get home ready to relax and distance yourself from the real world. Your next move wouldn’t be to play flight simulator, because it’s not separate from the norm.
Uncertainty is apart of play, once the outcome becomes apparent play stops. Games utilize risk and skills to draw the player in for a chance at victory, it’s the risk of the game that makes it pleasing. Caillois makes the example that the unpredictable nature is that like an attack and how the player’s reaction is their counterattack. The uncertainty is the nature of playing that explains the excitement and amusement from games.
Play is a free voluntary act that distance’s the player from the norm and that challenges them. A characteristic of play is simply that is does not provide the player with any wealth or material goods.
Make-Believe and Governed by Rules are two types of play. Make-Believe being where rules do not apply, rather the value is in improvised role playing. The other type of game, being governed by rules, uses the all of the player’s understanding of the game’s rules to abide by them.
Game Studies 