In this week’s readings, Roger Callois listed the defining characteristics of play:
1. Play needs to be free and non-obligatory otherwise it would lose its joyous qualities as diversion.
2. Play is a separate realm from the real world. In Endless Forest, the sense of leaving behind the real world and entering a separate realm is easily achieved by means of the game takes over the full computer/laptop screen and blocks out all elements that are not congruent with the play-world. The music is also evocative of a far-removed tranquil forest.
3. Play needs to be uncertain in order to be pleasing to the player. In games of skill, the game needs to adapt to the skill of the player in order to create an opportunity for the player to be fallible. Another way in which uncertainty can be created is to set rules that give players access to a certain set of possible actions in the play-world. The pleasure of play then comes from the ability to find or continue a response that is free within the limits set by the rules.
4. Play is unproductive. At this point, Callois revealed his underlying assumptions about play. His first (possibly faulty) assumption was that play and work/art are mutually exclusive. He wrote “A characteristic of play, in fact, is that it creates no wealth or goods, thus differing from work or art” “At the end of the game, all can and must start over again at the same point.” This assumption is fault as Endless Forest merges play and art as it invites the players to join in a virtual performance within the play-world. A photo of such a performance can be found here. More information about such performances can be found here. The second (again, possibly faulty) assumption that Callois made was that play equates to game and because of that, he assumes that there can be an end. In Endless Forest, there is no end because it is a play-world in which players play in and it is a play-world which will still exist even if there are no players in it.
5. Callois also wrote that play is either ruled or make-believe. When play is governed by rules, the rules must be obeyed otherwise the game will fall apart. When play is make-believe, the pleasure of play stems from acting out a role.
Callois also came up with four main categories of games based on whether competition, chance, simulation or vertigo is dominant. These four categories of games are called agon, alea, mimicry and ilinx respectively. These categories are not mutually exclusive as some games would have elements of two or more categories. Within each category, the games can also be placed on a continuum between two opposite poles. One end is called paidia and is characterized by a lack of rules and improvisation. The other end is called ludus and is characterized by emergence of complex rules. In paidia games, the fun comes from the players’ curiosity and playful exploration whereas in ludus games, the fun comes from overcoming the self-imposed obstacles. According to this rubric, Endless Forest will be considered a game of mimcry because it simulates the life of a deer in a forest albeit with magical overtones. The gameplay tends towards the paidia end because there is no set goal in the game for the player to work towards. Endless Forest is similar to the “sandbox” genre Wright described, whereby the player (and not the game) imposes the goal structures on the experience.
Question for the seminar: Callois appears to be equating play with games but I feel like there are parts of play that go beyond games and I would like some suggestions on what these things might be (e.g. being in a state of flow while doing work may be considered play for some people).
