# [[Play]] Play is any activity carried out with a [[Ludic attitude]] with the purpose of challenging limits, experimenting with possibilities, and capitalizing on opportunities within defined boundaries. [^zimmerman] [[Play is the highest form of research]]. ## Benefits of play - [[Learning]]: Play is the most basic way to learn. - [[Identity]]: Play, and particularly [[Roleplaying]], allows us to try on different identities to see which one fits. - [[Pleasure]]: Fun and enjoyment can be drivers of a desire to play. - Relationships: The shared experience of play among players builds intimacy and camaraderie. - Escape: Play can build resilience by allowing us a brief respite from reality. - [[Empathy]]: Play fosters a deep understanding of others and why they think the way they do. ## Conditions of serious play ### [[Consent]] All the players must have consented to the play, and their participation must not have been coerced. Play can't exist without [[Agency]]. ### [[Ludic attitude]] Play does not occur without some degree of intention. A "ludic attitude" involves a deliberate attempt to engage fully with the game with a sense of curiosity and playfulness. Someone with a ludic attitude is: - vulnerable, in that they must be open to expressing their desires in some way - responsive to the other players and to events that occur in the game - excited by the prospect of participating in the game However, a ludic attitude need not be lighthearted. Play can involve serious and systematic methods to push limits and learn about ourselves in safe spaces. ### Obstacles and tension Play involves "satisfying frustrations" [^zimmerman] that we place deliberately before our goals, extending the game so as to make something certain uncertain and postpone our own eventual gratification. In this way, we deny ourselves for our own enjoyment. Obstacles can be rules, other players, or competing goals, but must always be actually difficult enough so as to leave open the possibility of them not being surmountable. Some sort of tension is necessary for engagement. [^polaine] ### Willingness to pretend At any point, we could break out of play. Play requires a willing suspension of disbelief [^polaine] and an agreement to circumscribe our behavior to the limits of the game. ### Ability to provoke Inherent in the idea of play is the capacity for provocation: being able to affect the game or elicit a response from the other players. ### [[Flow state|Flow]] Play must skirt the line between being absorbing [^polaine] and effortless. If it's too effortless, it isn't engrossing enough for players to continue the game; if it's too absorbing, it feels more like work than play. The flow state is the liminal space between the two that keeps players in suspense without falling into boredom. ### Ambiguity Play requires enough ambiguity and [[Metaphor]] to make room for [[Creativity]]. Ambiguity exists alongside structure to give play ineffable, [[Emergence|emergent]] properties that the rules didn't dictate. It's what is created "above the table" that often makes play fun. We are all hackers [^polaine] : testing the extent and integrity of the rules is part of the game. ### Defined boundaries Boundaries and limits define what is play and what is reality, but doing so frees players to act according to a different set of rules. Boundaries must be clearly discussed before the game, enforced and negotiated during the game, and validated after the game in order to be effective. Play involves a tension between ambiguity and rules, in that a lot of the fun of the game exists outside or in the breaking of, the rules. However, rules must be learned before they can be broken. [^polaine] ### Extra-ordinariness If we wanted to do something wholly appropriate for the situation, we'd be able to do it outside the confines of play. For play to be distinct, there must be an element of inappropriateness and an act of rebellion against norms, albeit in small ways. Play is extra-ordinary: it is transgressive and exists outside the normal world. ### Safe space Healthy play occurs in a bounded space, defined by boundaries, structured by rules, where players feel that play would be acceptable and encouraged. A safe space includes: - a physical environment that is conducive for play - participants or players that agree to the same rules - an emotional ambience that facilitates trust This bounded space is often called a [[Magic Circle]]. ### Not primarily productive While we've been able to find ways to monetize play as a society, productivity or output must not be the primary objective of an activity for it to still feel like play. ## Different spheres of play ### Play as [[Software Testing]] Software testing is about improving application quality, but that's not always a systematic process. [[Exploratory testing]] and [[Chaos Engineering]], among others, encourage an "experiential attitude" similar to a [[Ludic attitude]] that is playful, responsive, and founded on curiosity. ### Play in [[Design]] When designers create an interface to a product or application, they are also creating the boundaries within which a game could be played. They're defining rules, setting expectations, and circumscribing players' behaviors. What players ultimately do within those limits, however, is often still unexpected. ### Play in Engineering Play can also be thought of as an intentional gap in a system, intended to handle expected deviation within certain tolerances. ### Play in [[Sex]] [^zimmerman]: Zimmerman, E. (2022). *The rules we break: Lessons in play, thinking, and design*. [[The Rules We Break|My highlights]]. [^polaine]: Polaine, A. (2010). *Developing a language of interactivity through the theory of play*. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney. 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