{"id":473,"date":"2015-01-21T19:46:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T02:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sintellectual.org\/hstr491\/?p=473"},"modified":"2015-01-21T21:11:57","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T04:11:57","slug":"reality-and-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sintellectual.org\/hstr491\/archives\/473","title":{"rendered":"Reality and Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are games really separate from reality, are they purely a fantasy? All four readings seem to suggest this, and even go so far as to make this distinction between reality and games essential to the definitions of “game” and “play”. “Real play comes to an end when\u00a0its players report back to the real world” (The\u00a0<\/em>Art of Contest<\/em>, p. 25). \u00a0Juul’s sixth game characteristic aligns with this quote; play or games do not have a permanent or lasting effect on real life. \u00a0Huizinga also argues\u00a0that\u00a0play is\u00a0separate from ordinary life. Sicart plays with the idea as well, while not as overtly, he states that play must have “its own conditions for ending” (p.16). Games are not just purely forms of entertainment but more importantly they are an escape or break from life. \u00a0They are enduring part \u00a0of our cultural heritage as a species because they serve this important role. \u00a0Humans were made to play, and games are just a natural progression of that need. A question arises, though, when it could be argued, using their very arguments, that life itself is the ultimate game. Of\u00a0Juul’s six requirements for something to be labeled a “game”, five can be directly applied to life.\u00a0Life has rules, life has\u00a0an eventual outcome, life has\u00a0winners and losers (everyone eventually plays both\u00a0roles), and every human is innately invested in their life’s outcome.\u00a0The Art of Contest\u00a0<\/em>dabbles in this thought with a play on Shakespeare’s words. “All the world’s a game…and all the men and women merely players” (p. 22). \u00a0Games and play permeate almost every part of our life, as is made very clear with all four arguments, thus making both words difficult to define in a precise manner. \u00a0If we really are Homo Ludens, then the return to the “real world” or “ordinary life” never really occurs. There is no definitive “end” and there is essentially\u00a0a lasting effect. \u00a0Games and play are still serving as welcome escapes, but they are really only distractions from the game of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are games really separate from reality, are they purely a fantasy? All four readings seem to suggest this, and even go so far as to make this distinction between reality and games essential to the definitions of “game” and “play”. “Real play comes to an end when\u00a0its players report back to the real world” (The\u00a0Art…<\/p>\n

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