Gaming Blog 3: Homo Ludens

Johann Huizinga has an understanding of play, the ‘magic circle’. He believes that play is an interlude outside ordinary life with fixed boundaries of time, space and rules. There is a clear line between the real world and playing a game, once you engage yourself, you step into the magic circle of that particular game. The magic circle is the game’s special context, either physical e.g. pitch, or psychological e.g. eye-spy. According to Salen and Zimmerman (2004), the magic of the circle is due to the new reality it creates. Once the magic circle is enacted, plastic pieces or digital media products start to represent something very specific, as they fall under the spell of rules. Once you are within the magic circle, you are able to do things which may not be acceptable in the real world, for example, shooting people and stealing cars in Grand Theft Auto.

The Lusory Attitude is the magic circle from the player’s perspective, choosing to engage in a game and cross the boundaries into the circle. In order to enter the circle, the player must have a certain attitude or state of mind; this is known as the Lusory attitude. Huizinga believes that there is no material benefit from playing a game and is a waste of energy. Applying this to a game of football, you win by kicking a ball and scoring goals. The rules of football are complex e.g. the off-side rule, there is artificial efficiency in order to enter the magic circle and participate in the game.

Applying these theories to The Sims, it is clear that in order to play you engage yourself in the magic circle and adopt the right attitude to play the game. It has fixed boundaries of time; you have to carry out certain activities within a time limit e.g. looking after a baby for three days. It has fixed boundaries of space; you can only build on the land you have bought e.g. you cannot decorate the street outside your house. It has fixed boundaries of rules, there are restrictions as to what you can do e.g. you cannot buy expensive items if you do not have enough money. There are cheats available, however, so the degree of the boundaries varies depending on how many cheats you use.

Bibliography

Salen, Katie and Zimmerman, Eric, (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: MIT

Huizinga, Johan (1970). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture. London: Temple Smith.

http://www.gamestudies.org/0401/jarvinen/