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In Defence of a Magic Circle: The Social and Mental Boundaries of Play
Abstract
This article reviews the history of the concept of the magic circle, its criticism and the numerous other metaphors that have been used to capture the zone of play or the border that surrounds it, such as world, frame, bubble, net, screen, reality, membrane, zone, environment, or attitude. The various conceptions of social and mental borders are reviewed and separated from the sites where cultural residue of such borders is encountered. Finally, a model is forwarded where the psychological bubble of playfulness, the social contract of the magic circle and the spatial, temporal or product- based arena are separated.
... Larps are observed as leisure activities, but have only recently been assessed for different educational properties (Bowman 2014). Past research has found that the arbitrary boundaries of larps are challenged by participants developing themselves while creating characters (Consalvo 2009;Montola 2009;Moore 2011;Waskul and Lust 2011;Stenros 2012). I propose that the conscious and subconscious development of an ingame character extends beyond the boundaries of Dagorhir and affects the player out-of-game. ...
... Challenges to the magic circle have pushed for more examination of the concept, expanding the scope of how play occurs. Stenros (2012) re-conceptualizes the magic circle as only one of three boundaries: 1) the psychological bubble, 2) the magic circle, and 3) the arena. This new format is able to introduce state of mind, action of play, and the special site when addressing criticisms of the magic circle. ...
... Group attitudes against character development segregated members; this subsequently detached players from their characters. Seasoned players were able to recognize the importance of character development as it related to personal growth; character development changed players out-of game, challenging the boundaries of the magic circle (Consalvo 2009;Montola 2009;Moore 2011;Waskul and Lust 2011;Stenros 2012). Interviews and observations built upon the attitudes conveyed by players, establishing four themes: 1) larp segregation, 2) reflection of self, 3) critique of self, and 4) evolution of self. ...
Individuals interact with one another and develop themselves in accordance with these interactions. One group within this complex system is live action role-players (larpers). Larps are a variant of play that combine the “role-playing” of games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, with the “live action” aspects of sports. Using symbolic interactionism as its paradigmatic orientation, this study examines how the magic circle is reinforced and challenged through the development of in-game characters and their effect on the out-of-game self. The respondents of this ethnography participate in a larp called Dagorhir (1977-), which puts an emphasis on live action combat rather than role-play. Participants are part of the Las Vegas realm of Dagorhir, Barad’Dun. Players view Dagorhir as a full contact sport mixed with martial arts; role-playing and character development is encouraged, but not necessary. I observed, interviewed, and participated with this group over the period of six months. Even in a combat-oriented larp like Dagorhir, players get to choose names, weapons, clothing, fighting techniques, and other ways to develop their in-game characters; this ability establishes a connection between leisure larps and edu-larps.The themes that emerged from coding show different aspects of self and social interactions that are affected through in-game character development: Larp Segregation, Reflection of Self, Critique of Self, and Evolution of Self. Players develop terms to label each other and other larpers, as well as create different social networks to further bonding within play. Many of the players recognized how they developed their in-game characters, but some failed to see how their characters facilitated personal change outside of the larp. Though some participants choose characters that reinforce who they are out-of-game, others choose characters to emulate attributes they believe they lack out-of-game. While participants often perceived their in-game characters and their out-of-game self as separate entities, this study was able to observe ways in which they are connected.
... Larps are observed as leisure activities, but have only recently been assessed for different educational properties (Bowman 2014). Past research has found that the arbitrary boundaries of larps are challenged by participants developing themselves while creating characters (Consalvo 2009;Montola 2009;Moore 2011;Waskul and Lust 2011;Stenros 2012). I propose that the conscious and subconscious development of an ingame character extends beyond the boundaries of Dagorhir and affects the player out-of-game. ...
... Challenges to the magic circle have pushed for more examination of the concept, expanding the scope of how play occurs. Stenros (2012) re-conceptualizes the magic circle as only one of three boundaries: 1) the psychological bubble, 2) the magic circle, and 3) the arena. This new format is able to introduce state of mind, action of play, and the special site when addressing criticisms of the magic circle. ...
... Group attitudes against character development segregated members; this subsequently detached players from their characters. Seasoned players were able to recognize the importance of character development as it related to personal growth; character development changed players out-of game, challenging the boundaries of the magic circle (Consalvo 2009;Montola 2009;Moore 2011;Waskul and Lust 2011;Stenros 2012). Interviews and observations built upon the attitudes conveyed by players, establishing four themes: 1) larp segregation, 2) reflection of self, 3) critique of self, and 4) evolution of self. ...
IJRP 10: Social Dynamics within Role-playing Communities Table of Contents Shekinah Hoffman, “Dedication” This issue is dedicated to Dr. Matthew. M. LeClaire (1989-2018), with a special memorial from his close colleague Shekinah Hoffman, as well as biographical information about his many accomplishments from his parents, Guy M. and Mary Jo LeClaire. Sarah Lynne Bowman, Evan Torner, and William J. White, “Editorial: Retrospective, Challenges, and Persistence” This editorial discusses the history of the journal, including shifts in scope. The editors also thank the contributors and reviewers for their persistence in times of great challenge. Aaron Trammell and Nikki Crenshaw, “The Damsel and the Courtesan: Quantifying Consent in Early Dungeons & Dragons” This article applies critical gender theory to early fanzine discourse. The authors examine discussions around rules for sexual encounters that were seen to objectify women characters. Steven L. Dashiell, “Hooligans at the Table: The Concept of Male Preserves in Tabletop Role-playing Games” This paper examines sociolinguistics in tabletop role-playing communities, asserting that player behaviors such as “rules lawyering” and “gamesplaining” privilege exclusionary “nerd” masculinity. William J. White, “Indie Gaming Meets the Nordic Scene: A Dramatistic Analysis” This article analyzes a discussion between indie designers Ron Edwards from the Forge and Tobias Wrigstad from Jeepform. The author applies Kenneth Burke’s dramatic pendad to the rhetorical moves made by each participant. Matthew M. LeClaire, “Live Action Role-playing: Transcending the Magic Circle” This participant-observer ethnography examines the ways in which Dagorhir larpers explore identity and negotiate social dynamics withing their role-playing community. Matthew Orr, Sara King, and Melissa McGonnell, “A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceived Social Benefits of Playing Table-top Role-playing Games” This qualitative analysis discusses how participants perceived tabletop role-playing as beneficial to the development of their social competence. Juliane Homann, “Not Only Play: Experiences of Playing a Professor Character at College of Wizardry with a Professional Background in Teaching” This paper presents experiences of teachers who played professors at the larp College of Wizardry, applying concepts from studies of work and leisure.
... Once inside those boundaries, the player is enveloped inside a distinguishable magic circle (Huizinga, 1955). The phrase pervasive game has been widely adopted to describe a game type that escapes from the boundaries of a clearly defined magic circle and pervades the strata of technological and social structures of modernity (Montola, 2005;Stenros, 2012). ...
... In addition, the structuring is game specific. It must be acknowledged that the intensity of gameplay, even when the game is entwined with daily life, is slightly different than that of daily life (Klausen, 2014;Stenros, 2012;III), which also warrants a need for game specific structuring of realities. ...
... The differences in the sense of co-presence, however, are very subtle in pervasive gameplay (V), which reflects the complexity of the game arena. Stenros (2012) identifies three boundaries of play in pervasive games that are linked to the psychological bubble, a sort of magical circle (Huizinga, 1955), where the player feels safe enough to be playful. This definition is quite close to the reality of mind, which, in pervasive games, also houses the foundations of semantic connections that bind the other realities and mind together. ...
Modern urban space, technological infrastructure, and sociability combine into a hybrid space thatis the arena for urban pervasive games. Over the past two decades the changes in this game arenahave been stealthy although substantial. Technological developments have helped to achieve truemobility of gaming devices, increased precision in localization, improved connectivity, andreduced orchestration required per player. Current pervasive location-based games can be playedanytime anywhere. Subsequently, doors have been opened for a growing number of commercialgames. These changes demand a new conceptualization of the urban game arena.
This thesis is based on five game constructs that have been specifically designed andimplemented as pervasive research games. Research data has been collected and analyzed with amixed methods approach from field trials conducted in the wild. Constructive research iscomplemented with a literature review that maps the characteristics of current location-basedmobile games and the game space. The main contribution of this thesis is the identification of thedigital, abstract, and physical layers of reality in digital urban pervasive games. The secondcontribution is the identification and categorization of the synchronizable elements that bind theserealities together. This thesis offers initial insights into translating this knowledge into the designof future pervasive games.
... For one, though many games are divided into regional servers which can differ slightly (e.g., the South Korean League of Legends server requires players to make accounts using the local equivalent of their social security number, or personal identification number, while this is not a requirement on other regional servers), the codes of conduct rarely take into account different cultural standards and are instead blankets for all communities of play (see Riot Games, 2023). In other words, regulation may be performed by the state to at least some degree (see Guadamuz, 2007;Liu, 2013;Porwal, 2021), but this is usually only in extreme cases; the ability to determine what is ok and what is not ok in terms of behavior is mostly held by the company or platform, with some influence from players (see Stenros, 2014;2015). From a practical standpoint, this means that governmental regulation on its own is rarely enough, something reflected both by Guadamuz's (2007) and Porwal's (2021) arguments for multiple regulatory forces to cooperate, and by our own results suggesting that gamers feel government regulation of industry is not preferable to the availability of effective counselling. ...
... This is represented in Figure 1 by transgressive play including more than just trolling, but being separate from cyberbullying. Transgressing perceived rules, be those the rules of the game, the developer, or social norms, can be a perfectly legitimate form of play, and can even be innocuous or an opportunity for the gaming community to grow (for examples of transgressive play, see Boudreau, 2019Boudreau, , 2022Marsh et al., 2016;Stenros, 2014Stenros, , 2015. In fact, this is a mechanism behind which social norm change can potentially occur (Boudreau, 2022). ...
... Different motivations exist for designing such games: exercising purposes Young, 2017, 2018;Matjeka and Svanas, 2018), to augment player engagement in computer games (Pasch et al., 2009;Bianchi-Berthouze, 2013) and to encourage joy and increase the amount of physical movement in our daily lives (Isbister et al., 2016;Segura et al., 2016). While movement-based games do not provide a solution to these problems, such games can provide a temporary frame for social and physical activities that permeate the boundaries of everyday life (Bateson, 1972;Caillois, 2001;Brown and Vaughan, 2009;Deterding, 2009;Stenros, 2012;DeKoven, 2013;Henricks, 2015;Huizinga, 2016) and thereby offer a different social and physical space in people's everyday lives (Eichberg, 2010(Eichberg, , 2016Møller, 2010;Deterding, 2017) 1 . ...
... Further, pervasive games expand the magic circle in up to three dimensions; spatial, temporal, and/or social. The magic circle, a much-debated term in game theory (Salen and Zimmerman, 2004;Rodriguez, 2006;Stenros, 2012), refers to the flexible boundary or invisible bubble emerging in play or game activities, allowing the players to make up the rules and define the activities as set out of the ordinary daily life. ...
This paper presents an evaluation study of how eighth families adopted, played and experienced a movement-based game system of analog and digital technologies in their homes during a pandemic lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic locked down many countries and grounded people in their homes with social and physical implications. A game system consisting of simple, tangible technologies with modular components was designed to meet these needs. The game system was developed for the players to set up in their homes easily and, therefore, should not depend on screens or extensive physical installations. The game system comprises simple, tangible technologies such as light and music cubes, a simple mobile robot, card game challenges, and a suite of mini-games combining the elements in a variety of playful experiences. Using the technology probes methodology, the game system was packed into a suitcase and evaluated by eight families that played the game in their homes, video-recorded their sessions, wrote a final report and were (informally) interviewed afterwards. The data set presents how the families turned their ordinary everyday spaces into interactive, pervasive playgrounds encouraging social and bodily exploration and play. Furthermore, the study shows how bodily movement and social play can be promoted through different technologies that stimulate various bodily senses and incorporate them through the different game and play structures into their everyday living environments. The findings resulted in four design implications to aid designers and researchers in future work on movement-based game systems and interactive, pervasive playground design. These design implications accommodate social and bodily activities in ordinary places otherwise not pre-allocated for play or game activities.
... The magic circle concept is a topic of debate for game and gamification designers (Raftopolous, 2016). While some see the magic circle as offering a simple and important model to understand play versus the real world (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004), others argue that the binary delineation of what is inside and outside of the game is unclear and restrictive (Stenros, 2012). Salen and Zimmerman (2004) emphasised the importance of play being entered into voluntarily and that games should exist apart from ordinary life, which is consistent with Huizinga's (1950) notion of self-determination and autonomy in play. ...
... Similarly, Malaby (2007) questioned whether a clear division between play and ordinary life exists at all, and Stenros (2012) contended that Salen's and Zimmerman's view of the magic circle does not consider the connection between play and culture. The magic circle debate is essentially about the extent to which games do and should exist as a closed system and whether they should have permeable boundaries to the real world. ...
Organisations are continuously seeking to increase employee engagement to improve
organisational performance and gain competitive advantage. Gamification — the use of game mechanics in non-game contexts — is a nascent and increasingly applied approach to improve engagement and holds promise to address current engagement gaps in workplaces. Applying gamification to the complexities and idiosyncrasies of the workplace, however, presents challenges for researchers and gamification designers. This thesis argues that Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) provides a theoretical framework for addressing these challenges in both research and practice, and it develops methods of adapting the use of CHAT to understand the unique factors of a particular workplace context.
Using a qualitative design-based research method, a gamification experience was designed for staff of three workplaces using the same five design steps in all contexts and implementing a gamification experience for three months. Three organisations participated in this study: a school seeking to increase innovative teaching practices in its teachers; a restaurant wanting to improve team interaction and restaurant management; and a government department wanting to increase professional development activities.
The findings from this study demonstrate the positive effects gamification can have in the
workplace, including increased staff engagement and motivation, improved team interactions and communication, increased productivity and better clarity on team goals, and increased workplace satisfaction. Significantly, the gamification design process helped alleviate systemic tensions in the workplace and demonstrates that gamification can contribute to a more productive and higher performing organisation.
This thesis makes several unique contributions including providing additional qualitative
evidence of the effectiveness of gamification and first study to extend Cultural Historical
Activity Theory and practice to the gamification design process. Finally, this thesis provides a gamification design process and evaluation framework for designers to use when implementing gamification in the workplace.
... Das Spiel ist von dem, was Nicht-Spiel ist, abgegrenzt. Ob diese Abgrenzung physischer oder ideeller Natur ist und wie durchlässig sie sich gestaltet, ist für die vorliegende Argumentation nachrangig, wenngleich in den Game Studies umfassend über beide Fragen debattiert worden ist (Consalvo 2009;Stenros 2012). Sowohl Spiel als auch Ritual schaffen aber Räume des Übergangs, die einerseits die Transition in das Spiel/Ritual erleichtern sollen, andererseits aber auch innerhalb des Spiels/Rituals zuvor bestehende Differenzen verwischen. ...
... Das bedeutet umgekehrt, dass nichts, was im Spiel passiert, ‚ernste', realweltliche Folgen nach dessen Ende nach sich ziehen kann. Dass ein derart idealistischer Spielbegriff bald an praktische Grenzen stößt und in den Game Studies bereits umfassend(Consalvo 2009;Stenros 2012) kritisiert worden ist, ändert nichts daran, dass (insbesondere digitale) Spiele langläufig als ausnehmend konsequenzloser und unproduktiver Zeitvertreib gelten. Hellwigs Spiel sollte an der Braunschweiger Pagenschule im Unterricht Anwendung finden und basiert wesentlich auf einem stark modifizierten und erweiterten Schachspiel. ...
Das grundlegende Verständnis lebender Systeme ist ein fundamentales Ziel der Biologie. Dies beginnt mit der eher passiven Beobachtung und Messung und reicht über Manipulations- und Störungsexperimente bis hin zur Erschaffung neuer Lebensvarianten. Mit dem hier vorgestellten ASSISIbf-Manifest gehen wir nun einen deutlichen Schritt weiter und zielen auf die Erschaffung gänzlicher neuer bio-hybrider Chimären. Durch das Mischen ganzer Gesellschaften, zum Beispiel Tierschwärmen oder -kolonien mit Roboterverbänden, entstehen so soziale Cyborgs. Attrappen werden so zu autonomen Akteuren, die tief in das soziale Gefüge der untersuchten Tiere eindringen können. Die von uns betriebene Neuauflage der Attrappen-getriebenen Verhaltensforschung erlaubt Experimente, die zuvor noch nicht machbar waren: Mithilfe der Akteure, die in die tierische Gesellschaft zuvor eingeschleust wurden, können Informationen kontrolliert vom Experimentator in die Tiergesellschaft induziert werden. Aus der nachfolgenden Beobachtung der Tiere können Rückschlüsse auf die interne Informationsverarbeitung der tierischen Gesellschaft gezogen werden. Wir schlagen hier eine generelle Methode vor, mit der organismisches Verhalten möglichst automatisiert aus den im Fokus befindlichen Organismen extrahiert werden kann (z. B. durch Methoden des Maschinellen Sehens). Mit ebenfalls algorithmischen Methoden (z. B. Maschinelles Lernen, Evolutionäre Algorithmen o. Ä.) wird dann ein Verhaltens- und Interaktions-Modell dieser Lebewesen erzeugt. Implementiert man dieses Modell in künstliche „Mitspieler“ einer tierischen Gesellschaft, also z. B. in Roboter, die man in einen Tierschwarm einschleust, dann entstehen bio-hybride Gesellschaften auf diesem Weg beinahe vollautomatisch.
... Previous research indicates that spatial change is inherent in the nature of play. Through play, individuals create a magic circle, [50] that exists outside the rules and boundaries of physical space [90]. This term is often associated with pervasive play, where the play experience extends into the physical world [16], or the fictional world blends with surrounding physical spaces [73]. ...
While there's growing interest in eliciting situated playful interactions with technologies in different contexts, how these interactions might shape everyday spaces still needs to be fully explored. To address this gap, this article aims to guide the architectural spatial changes by exploring everyday playful interactions of technology-adopted users in domestic spaces. We present our contributions in a two-fold study: First, through an extensive diary study involving 13 technology-adopted residents in gated communities, where distinct boundaries offer increased opportunities for playful interactions, we identified four playful themes: (1) creating and expanding play-spaces, (2) balancing play and comfort, (3) intertwining imagination with spatial experience, and (4) gamifying household interactions. Secondly, by building on these themes, we outline three design implications to inform architectural design processes, aiming to translate everyday playful interactions into tangible spatial changes. These implications include adapting shape-changing and wearable technologies for playful flexibility, embedding new forms of communications within infrastructures, and turning homes into interactive entities with multi-sensory technologies. While these findings provide a starting point for exploring new architectural design possibilities in similar environments, further research with architects, policymakers, and design researchers in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Building Interaction (HBI) fields is essential to actualizing these changes.
... Huizinga and Caillois base their views of games on a strict distinction between play and not-play, often referred to as the magic circle-a concept that has been controversially discussed within game studies (Calleja, 2012;Stenros, 2012). This distinction is, however, not an unquestioned, absolute certainty, as the above quote demonstrates. ...
The article argues that blockchain-based games should be conceptualized as an emerging social practice that attracts financial speculators under the guise of online games. The article first outlines the blockchain-gaming discourse, which promises ownership and benefits to players, while it encourages financiers and publishers to exploit players. The article presents the performative discourse of blockchain advocates as well as the counterarguments presented by journalist, players, and developers, in order to demonstrate that arguments against cryptogaming are not anticapitalist and politicized, but mostly based on common sense. Then, the article investigates game studies concepts for their capacity to further explicate cryptogames, and finds that neither gamification nor playbor are completely fitting. Instead, the article turns to the game research fundamentals of Huizinga and Caillois to cast blockchain gaming in a new light. From this perspective, games like CryptoKitties and Axie Infinity emerge as nested activities that can be approached as play of financial speculation, with the latter approach being significantly privileged in existing games.
... This barrier is called the magic circle, a term coined by Huizinga in Homo Ludens (1949) and later adapted to game studies by . The applicability of the concept has been disputed in the study of games and RPGs (Copier 2005;Calleja 2011;Stenros 2012;Schallegger 2018) because, in rituals, the magic circle is usually thought of as a blunt separation of the profane from the sacred; for games, a strict division between everyday life and the gaming world is, in general, impossible because exchanging information between the game participants and their environment would be hindered . To circumvent this, the idea that the game's domain is a pure space (Caillois, 2001) and call upon the specific permeability of the magic circle. ...
IJRP 13: Full Issue Table of Contents Sarah Lynne Bowman, William J. White, and Evan Torner, "Editorial: Transformative Play Seminar 2022: Education,Personal Development, and Meaning Making” This special issue is the first of a two-part series collecting the short articles presented during the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar, held at Uppsala University Campus Gotland in Visby, Sweden on October 20-21, 2022. Maryanne Cullinanand Jennifer Genova, “Gaming the Systems: A Component Analysis Frameworkfor the Classroom Use of RPGs” This article presents guidelines for constructing educational experiences with learning role-playing games (LRPGs) based on specific learning objectives, including academic skills, social emotional skills, and executive functioning skills. Josefin Westborg, “The Educational Role-Playing Game Design Matrix:Mapping Design Components onto Types of Education” This article offers categories for understanding different facets of learning and role-playing games, including setting, purpose, framing, type of processing, and learning objectives. Types of games categorized include leisure, stand-alone educational RPGs, RPGs in education, and Educational RPGs. Aditya Anupam, "Playing the Belly of the Beast: Games for Learning Strategic Thinking in Tech Ethics" This article discusses the design of an interactive digital narrative the author is developing called Lights Out Warehouse, which is geared toward engineering students in universities. The game explores ethical issues around automated labor and organizing. Xiong Shuo,Ruoyu Wen, andHuijuan Zheng, “The Player Category Research of Murder Mystery Games” This article introduces the development process of Jubensha in China. Inspired by Bartle’s (1996) Player Taxonomy the authors build a model of a player typology for MMG, including the professor, braggart, conqueror, detective, actor, politician, socializer, and viewer. Miguel Angel BastarracheaMagnani, “A Coin with Two Sides:Role-Playing Games as Symbolic Devices” This article explores RPGs through the lens of philosophy and depth psychology. He discusses their ritual and mythic nature and how these elements converge as symbols. Ayça Durmus andSedef Topcuoglu, “Self Arcana: A Self-Reflective, Story-Based Tarot Game” This article discusses the development of Self Arcana, a role-playing game involving drawing one’s own tarot cards and engaging in storytelling in order to achieve greater self-insight. The authors offer a duoethnography featuring their experiences designing and playing the game. Giuseppe Femia, “A Reparative Play in Dungeons & Dragons” This article highlights RPGs’ potential for reparative play in which participants can express queer identities. The author includes an autoethnographic account of his experiences in Dungeons & Dragons, which allowed him to express his assexuality in meaningful ways. Albert R. Spencer, “The Vampire Foucault:Erotic Horror Role-Playing Games as a Technologies of the Self” This article describes the potential of erotic horror role-playing games such as in the World of Darkness to provide opportunities for transformative bleed.
... This barrier is called the magic circle, a term coined by Huizinga in Homo Ludens (1949) and later adapted to game studies by . The applicability of the concept has been disputed in the study of games and RPGs (Copier 2005;Calleja 2011;Stenros 2012;Schallegger 2018) because, in rituals, the magic circle is usually thought of as a blunt separation of the profane from the sacred; for games, a strict division between everyday life and the gaming world is, in general, impossible because exchanging information between the game participants and their environment would be hindered . To circumvent this, the idea that the game's domain is a pure space (Caillois, 2001) and call upon the specific permeability of the magic circle. ...
Editorial - Transformative Play Seminar 2022: Education, Meaning Making, and Personal Development
... For more detailed accounts on the magic circle and the debates surrounding it in game studies, seeConsalvo (2009);Stenros (2012);and Zimmerman (2012). ...
This volume offers innovative ways to think about speculation at a time when anticipation of catastrophe in an apocalyptic mode is the order of the day and shapes public discourse on a global scale. It maps an interdisciplinary field of investigation: the chapters interrogate hegemonic ways of shaping the present through investments in the future, while also looking at speculative practices that reveal transformative potential. The twelve contributions explore concrete instances of envisioning the open unknown and affirmative speculative potentials in history, literature, comics, computer games, mold research, ecosystem science and artistic practice.
... There is also an opportunity for learning when playing with restraints: By being disabled in diferent ways, players can experience how it feels to be disabled. Games and play by nature are exploratory and are known to create a special frame and setting (see, e.g., [15,16,39,74]) for experiments with identities and societal issues. Games with restraints can, if designers take caution and pay attention to these issues, lead to a better understanding and possibly empathy for disabled people 4 . ...
... This suggests that the division between play and ordinary life is ultimately invalid. Therefore, Huizinga's (1949) divide between play and 'ordinary life' has often been considered to be too strict (Stenros, 2012). However, instead of rejecting the magic circle, it may be useful to reconsider the boundaries between play and ordinary life. ...
This thesis is an ethnography of video gamers and video game events. It considers the social and cultural practices of video gamers away from the video game screen, and in particular focuses on those who participate in, and attend, various video game related
events. Previous studies on video games have often focused on the isolation of video gamers (in small groups) or the textual analysis of video games themselves. However, these focuses have often been too closely aligned with a very narrow understanding of (direct) play, which often ignore the social aspect of video gaming away from the video game screen.
Using an ethnographic approach, consisting of questionnaires, interviews, group interviews, and extensive observational research, this research considers the social significance of video games in enabling and maintaining social networks, patterns and the identity formations of those who attend various video game events across the United Kingdom; including video game conventions [MCM Comic Con, Eurogamer/EGX Rezzed, Play Expo], tournaments and competitions [Edmas 2, Edintines, Manchester Monthly Regionals], local area network parties [Insomnia Gaming Festivals i50/i51/i52/i53/i54/i55/i56], game related musical events [Video Games Live, Final Fantasy Orchestral concerts and Legend of Zelda Orchestral concerts] and other video game practices away from the video game screen.
The research findings suggest that video game events are not just about playing video games. Video game events provide a unique opportunity for video gamers, who are usually separated by distance, to come together and interact in meaningful ways, besides gaming itself. Many of those who attend video game events often engage themselves through various forms of socialisation, tuition, and social progression, that are often taken for granted. Therefore, this research seeks to provide an understanding of an important, but largely under-researched aspect of video gamer culture.
... For more detailed accounts on the magic circle and the debates surrounding it in game studies, seeConsalvo (2009);Stenros (2012);and Zimmerman (2012). ...
This volume offers innovative ways to think about speculation at a time when anticipation of catastrophe in an apocalyptic mode is the order of the day and shapes public discourse on a global scale. It maps an interdisciplinary field of investigation: the chapters interrogate hegemonic ways of shaping the present through investments in the future, while also looking at speculative practices that reveal transformative potential. The twelve contributions explore concrete instances of envisioning the open unknown and affirmative speculative potentials in history, literature, comics, computer games, mold research, ecosystem science and artistic practice.
... Renowned play scholar and historian Johan Huizinga describes play as creating "temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart" [63, p. 10]. These worlds "within which special rules obtain"(ibid), are sometimes referred to as "the magic circle of play" [118]. According to games scholar Cindy Poremba, by pushing or breaching the bounds of the magic circle, brink games not only force the awareness of explicit and implicit game rules, but of implicit and explicit non-game rules as well [99]. ...
This article brings together two distinct, but related perspectives on playful museum experiences: Critical play and hybrid design. The article explores the challenges involved in combining these two perspectives, through the design of two hybrid museum experiences that aimed to facilitate critical play with/in the collections of the Museum of Yugoslavia and the highly contested heritage they represent. Based on reflections from the design process as well as feedback from test users we describe a series of challenges: Challenging the norms of visitor behaviour, challenging the role of the artefact, and challenging the curatorial authority. In conclusion we outline some possible design strategies to address these challenges.
... I am relying here on what I take to be a more minimal and defensible version of the magic circle. For various defenses of more reasonable accountings of the magic circle, see (Stenros, 2012;Waern, 2012;Nguyen 2020, 177-180). ...
Twitter makes conversation into something like a game. It scores our communication, giving us vivid and quantified feedback, via Likes, Retweets, and Follower counts. But this gamification doesn’t just increase our motivation to communicate; it changes the very nature of the activity. Games are more satisfying than ordinary life precisely because game-goals are simpler, cleaner, and easier to apply. Twitter is thrilling precisely because its goals have been artificially clarified and narrowed. When we buy into Twitter’s gamification, then our values shift from the complex and pluralistic values of communication, to the narrower quest for popularity and virality. Twitter’s gamification bears some resemblance with the phenomena of echo chambers and moral outrage porn. In all these phenomena, we are instrumentalizing our ends for hedonistic reasons. We have shifted our aims in an activity, not because the new aims are more valuable, but in exchange for extra pleasure.
... A few games use genetic algorithms and neural networks, their complexity far from present state-of-the-art machine learning models. 15 In the role of the Mechanic, the AI is supposed to remain invisible, intended as a silent ingredient in the production of the magic circle (Huizinga 1955;Stenros 2012). Only in the event of an error, AI would reveal itself as a tool that needs to be investigated, in Heidegger's (2013Heidegger's ( [1962, pp.102-103) terminology it would undergo a transition from 'ready-to-hand' to 'present-at-hand'. ...
In recent years, we have observed impressive advancements at the intersection of games and artificial intelligence. Often these developments are described in terms of technological progress, while public discourses on their cultural, social and political impact are largely decoupled. I present an alternative rhetoric by speculating about the emergence of AI within social systems. In a radical departure from the dominant discourse, I describe seven roles - Mechanic, Alter/Ego, Observer, Protector, Player, Creator and God - that an AI may assume in the environment of videogames. I reflect on the ramifications of these roles for the idea of an artificial general intelligence (AGI), mainly hoping to irritate the prevailing discussion.
... By affording explorative behaviors, play can also promote critical thinking [34]: it can help us re-claim our desire to act in non-formulaic ways and break up entrenched social and cultural frames of behavior [18,29,46]. That is in itself a desirable value that society should cultivate-it empowers us to be autonomous and critical, and gives us opportunities to disrupt the state of affairs [72,76]. ...
Despite the capacity of play to spontaneously emerge in our daily life, the scope of application of play design in HCI is generally narrower, specifically targeting areas of pure leisure, or wholly utilitarian and productive play. Here we focus on the value of play design to respond to and support our natural gravitation towards emergent play that helps to meet our social and emotional needs. We present a bridging concept: Technology for Situated and Emergent Play, i.e. technology design that supports playful engagement that emerges interwoven with our everyday activities outside leisure, and that enriches these activities with socio-emotional value. Our intermediate-level contribution has value as a synthesis piece: it weaves together theories of play and play design and bridges them with concrete design examples. As a bridging concept, it contributes: i) theoretical grounding; ii) inspiring design exemplars that illustrate the theory and foreground its value; and iii) design articulations in the form of valuable experiential qualities and design features. Our work can help to focus design agendas for playful technology and inspire future designs in this space.
... This is exemplified in the contested concept of the magic circle, later adopted also to game studies, explaining how games take place in not quite the same reality as everyday life (e.g. Harviainen & Lieberoth, 2012;Klabbers, 2009;Salen & Zimmerman, 2004;Stenros, 2012a). Most studies have so far focused on issues of spatiality, rules and ethics in magic circles of play, but a handful have also forayed into issues of time. ...
Artykuł zajmuje się percepcją i systemami reprezentacji czasu i czasowości w larpach (live-action role-playing games). Na podstawie prac Timo Lainema, badacza gier menedżerskich, niniejszy artykuł przedstawia przykładowe efekty czasu trwania gry, asynchroniczności i nudy, a następnie proponuje nowe podejście do postrzegania czasu na - i w - larpach.
... Teos ja sen tapahtumapaikkana ollut museotila oli merkitty ikään kuin sopivaksi tällaiselle leikille ja sen säännöille. Leikkien ja pelien yhteydessä puhutaan usein leikin ja pelin taikapiiristä: siitä miten leikkiminen ja pelaaminen luovat omaa henkistä tilaansa ja tapahtuvat usein omilla rajatuilla alueillaan (Huizinga 1949, 9;Salen & Zimmerman 2004, 92-99;Stenros 2012). Lyöminen ymmärretään urheiluksi nyrkkeilykehän sisällä, vaikka muualla se on yksiselitteisesti väkivaltaa tai häiriökäyttäytymistä, ja vaikkapa kuurupiiloa on helppoa leikkiä leikkipuistossa osana isompaa porukkaa, mutta jos piiloutuisi yksin keskellä kaupunkia, tilanteen tulkinnallinen epävakaus tekisi siitä oudon niin leikkijälle kuin ohikulkijoillekin. ...
Analysoimme artikkelissamme trollauskampanjaa, joka kohdistui nykytaiteen museo Kiasman ARS17-näyttelyssä esillä olleeseen #ALONETOGETHER-taideteokseen keväällä 2017. Poikkeuksellisen suuria tunteita puolesta ja vastaan herättäneen teoksen luona nähtiin kevään aikana innostuneita museokävijöitä, mutta myös teoksen hengen ja normatiivisen galleriakontekstin ulkopuolelle tarkoituksella jättäytyneitä osallistujia. Taideteoksen luona Kiasmassa vieraili useita ihmisiä, jotka pyrkivät häiritsemään pääasiassa yhtä taiteilijoista, Shia LaBeoufia, jonka kanssa pystyi kommunikoimaan teoksen välityksellä. Lisäksi häirintä näkyi verkossa, osin teoksen verkottuneen muodon ja osin trollien verkkokulttuurisen taustan vuoksi. Suomalaiselta Ylilauta-kuvalaudalta sekä sen kansainväliseltä vastineelta 4chanilta käynnistynyt häirintä kytkeytyi osaksi pidempää teoksen taiteilijoiden ja trollien välistä historiaa, jota tarkastelemme sekä transnationaalisen verkkokulttuurin ilmentymänä että yhdysvaltalaisen äärioikeistolaisen poliittisen alt-right-diskurssin suomalaistuneena versiona. Häirintään käytettiin kuvalautakulttuurille ominaista sanastoa ja kuvastoa, joiden eräänlaisena tiivistymänä voidaan pitää Pepe-sammakkoa, sarjakuvamaista symbolia, johon kiinnittyy trollien poliittisia ja retorisia tavoitteita ja joka toisaalta ilmentää myös trollaukselle ominaista trivialisoivaa lähestymistapaa. Analyysimme keskittyy yhtäältä trollauksen ristiriitaiseen rooliin poliittisesti motivoituneena toimintana ja leikkinä, ja toisaalta yleisöä osallistavan taideteoksen kokemiseen leikillisenä tapahtumana. Tarkastelemme myös, miten taiteilijat, trollit ja museokävijät pyrkivät sääntelemään, kaappaamaan ja muokkaamaan teoksen affektiivisia ulottuvuuksia yrittämällä hallita teoksen leikillistä tilaa. Osoitamme, miten trollauksen ymmärtäminen leikkinä auttaa ymmärtämään tapahtumia erityisesti #ALONETOGETHER-taideteoksen yhteydessä, ja miten trollaus voi olla samaan aikaan sekä leikkisää että poliittista.
... In order to analyse the relations among everyday world and the world generated by these games, we need to introduce Schütz's phenomenology. 24 24 We could use the analysis developed by game studies on the ''magic circle'' because it directly focusses on this topic (Stenros 2012;Zimmerman 2012;Salen and Zimmerman 2003). However, we will tackle the topic from a phenomenological analysis in order to analyse their emergence from a perceptual point of view. ...
The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects on the everyday world of actual Augmented Reality games which introduce digital objects in our surroundings from a phenomenological point of view. Augmented Reality is a new technology aiming to merge digital and real objects, and it is becoming pervasively used thanks to the application for mobile devices Pokémon Go by Niantic. We will study this game and other similar applications to shed light on their possible effects on our lives and on our everyday world from a phenomenological perspective. In the first part, we will show how these digital objects are visualised as merged in the surroundings. We will point out that even if they are visualised as part of the everyday world, they are not part of it because they are still related to the fictional world generated by the game. In the second part, we will show how the existence of these objects in their fictional world has effects on the everyday world where everybody lives. The goal of Augmented Reality is not reached yet because these objects are not part of the everyday world, but it already makes our lives embedded with digital elements. We will show if these new objects have effects on our world and on how we live our lives.
In this irregular, PhD student and clubgoer Ruby Schofield critically examines discourses around nightclubs, on the basis of her own mixed experiences. She engages Johan Huizinga's concept of a magic circle as a productive means to explain both the play-ground nature of a club, as well as the need to renegotiate the boundaries of club life, in order to keep it that way.
Sarah Lynne Bowman, William J. White, Evan Torner -- "Editorial: The Increasing Specificity and Maturity of Role-playing Game Studies" Kjell Hedgard Hugaas -- “Bleed and Identity: A Conceptual Model of Bleed and How Bleed-out from Role-playing Games Can Affect a Player’s Sense of Self” Orla Walsh and Conor Linehan -- “Roll for Insight: Understanding How the Experience of Playing Dungeons & Dragons Impacts the Mental Health of a Frequent Player” Emry Sottile -- “‘It Might Have a Little to Do with Wish Fulfillment’: The Life-Giving Force of Queer Performance in TTRPG Spaces” Kerttu Lehto -- “Nordic Larp as a Method in Mental Health Care and Substance Abuse Work: Case SÄRÖT” Lennart Bartenstein -- “Live Action Role-playing (Larp) in Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy: A Case Study” Maryanne Cullinan -- “Surveying the Perspectives of Middle and High School Educators Who Use Role-playing Games as Pedagogy” Mátyás Hartyándi and Gijs van Bilsen -- “Playing With Leadership: A Multiple-Case Study of Leadership Development Larps” Jeremy Riel and Rob Monahan -- “Learning from Ludemes: An Inventory of Common Player Actions within Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) to Inform Principled Design of Game-Based Learning Experiences”
This qualitative study analyzes interviews from 11 educators who use TTRPGs as pedagogy to identify common perspectives about what benefits these games bring to their classrooms. Findings across settings include practitioner reports of increased engagement, new social connections, the development of affinity groups, and a lowering of perceived social stakes for students in the setting. Additionally, teachers described a change in student attitudes about success in the classroom from an individualistic to collectivist stance. These findings are then examined through Gary Alan Fine’s TTRPG Frame Theory. Also noted is the lack of connection between the current work of RPG scholars and the work of these practitioners.
»Fictional Practices of Spirituality« provides critical insight into the implementation of belief, mysticism, religion, and spirituality into worlds of fiction, be it interactive or non-interactive. This first volume focuses on interactive, virtual worlds - may that be the digital realms of video games and VR applications or the imaginary spaces of life action role-playing and soul-searching practices. It features analyses of spirituality as gameplay facilitator, sacred spaces and architecture in video game geography, religion in video games and spiritual acts and their dramaturgic function in video games, tabletop, or LARP, among other topics. The contributors offer a first-time ever comprehensive overview of play-rites as spiritual incentives and playful spirituality in various medial incarnations.
Extended abstract presented at DiGRA 2023 in Seville, Spain.
Games in general and computer games in particular have long been a subject of research in legal research starting from the focus on the analogy between law and games (known inter alia from the works by A. Ross). However, by the beginning of the 21st century computer games and, above all, multiplayer computer games (virtual worlds) became an independent subject of legal research, both because of the interest in private legal problems and based on the methodological premise in the spirit of L. Lessig, according to which the study of the legal dimension of multiplayer game worlds, just as it was earlier with the Internet, can provide new knowledge about the law in general. Computer games are a commercially successful type of media, reflecting the acute problems of “digital law” and one of the significant theoretical and legal problems of determining the reasonable limits of law intervention in “non-serious” or “virtual” relationships. To understand the peculiarities of computer games, including for the purposes of legal research and improvement of the model of legal regulation, a broad interdisciplinary view that takes into account the approaches developed in media studies (M. McLuhan, L. Manovich et al.) and in studies of games as such (J. Huizinga and R. Caillois et al.). As a result, computer games can be considered as a kind of new media the qualities of which are reflected in their main legal qualifications — as the results of intellectual activity, information, means of communication and, actually, games. These qualities can be considered as basic for the development of the model of regulation of computer games and the game industry, taking into account the balance of interests of developers, publishers and the game community, as well as taking into account national interests.
This study examines virtual reality (VR) poker and how the platform affects poker players' experience. Players use a self-customized avatar and other features of a computer platform that differs from in-person poker. Data were collected through observations from in-game poker VR recordings and interviews with five professional poker players. Findings are analysed theoretically through proteus effects, social presence, ecological psychology, magic circle, and liminality. This demonstrates the interactive cues that poker players use when immersed in virtual reality and embodied in a digital avatar. The goals from this research are to learn about the influence avatars have on poker players: if players can still maintain their poker skills and read different cue signs from other players while embodied in an avatar and immersed in VR. This paper also explores the promise of poker in virtual reality and its environment, examples of existing applications, a discussion of the research to date, and also provides a vision for the future.
"So you're the one getting this gift? Lucky you! Someone who knows you has visited the museum. They searched out things they thought you would care about, and they took photos and left messages for you."
This is the welcoming message for the Gift app, designed to create a very personal museum visit. Hybrid Museum Experiences use new technologies to augment, expand or alter the physical experience of visiting the museum. They are designed to be experienced in close relation to the physical space and exhibit. In this book we discuss three forms of hybridity in museum experiences: Incorporating the digital and the physical, creating social, yet personal and intimate experiences, and exploring ways to balance visitor participation and museum curation. This book reports on a 3-year cross-disciplinary research project in which artists, design researchers and museum professionals have collaborated to create technology-mediated experiences that merge with the museum environment.
"So you're the one getting this gift? Lucky you! Someone who knows you has visited the museum. They searched out things they thought you would care about, and they took photos and left messages for you."
This is the welcoming message for the Gift app, designed to create a very personal museum visit. Hybrid Museum Experiences use new technologies to augment, expand or alter the physical experience of visiting the museum. They are designed to be experienced in close relation to the physical space and exhibit. In this book we discuss three forms of hybridity in museum experiences: Incorporating the digital and the physical, creating social, yet personal and intimate experiences, and exploring ways to balance visitor participation and museum curation. This book reports on a 3-year cross-disciplinary research project in which artists, design researchers and museum professionals have collaborated to create technology-mediated experiences that merge with the museum environment.
This article examines The VOID’s Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire (2017) VR arcade attraction, and analyzes the intermedial magic principles employed by co-founder and magician Curtis Hickman to create the illusion of a fictive world with impossible space and liveness. I argue that The VOID (Vision of Infinite Dimensions) functioned like nineteenth century magic theaters run by Georges Méliès and others, by employing magic principles of misdirection that directed player attention towards the aesthetics of an illusion, and away from the mechanics of the effects generating technology. Narrative framing and performative role play transported multiple players into a believable Star Wars immersive experience, creating an aesthetics of the impossible that reflected the goal of many stage magic tricks, and was foundational to trick films in the cinema of attractions of the early twentieth century. Using game studies concepts like Huizinga’s magic circle and theatre arts concepts like Craig’s über-marionette, this article suggests that The VOID and other stage magic approaches to VR, like Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (2017), are a new medium for participatory theatre that incorporate immersive features from both cinema and games.
Keywords: VR Magic Circle; Impossible Aesthetics; Immersion; Space in VR; Liveness.
https://cinergie.unibo.it/article/view/12234/13014
The International Poetry Studies Institute’s (IPSI) prose poetry project was started almost
accidentally in late 2014. Since then it has become a site of highly productive creative play. At
the time of writing, the prose poetry project consists of 21 members who have collectively
written more than 1,500 prose poems. We will argue that it is an exemplary site for creative
practice because it enables its members to generate new prose poetry enjoyably while asking
very little of them except the production and sharing of their creative work. By identifying key
elements of play that help stimulate creative practice in the prose poetry project—including the
elements of sanctuary and ambiguity, and the interactions among these—we aim to demonstrate the significance of play for producing creative encounters with the world.
When Art Is Put Into Play: A Practice-based Research Project on Game Art is a practice-based research project that aims to contribute to the understanding of the relation between play and art from the specific perspective of computer-based Game Art. This is done firstly through the production of nine works of art that through their means of production all relate to Game Art as it has come to be known in the last twenty years or so. Secondly, the relation between games, play and art is discussed from a Game Art perspective. This project as a whole aims to map and exemplify cases where Game Art successfully inherits rule-systems, aesthetics, spatial and temporal aspects from computer games. This work has in turn resulted in a provisional response to the question of the possibility for Game Art to successfully create a state of play, whilst still maintain agency as a work of art. The claim is that the friction between art and play makes it doubtful that art can maintain its agency as art through play. This claim is made as a result of the artistic process leading up to the works of art that were made as a part of the thesis. It has been strengthened through the study of the concept of play and how it relates to artistic practice.
Full documentation here: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/53864
Der Beitrag bietet einen Überblick über zwei verschiedene Strategien, Spiele produktiv zu machen. Es geht einerseits um Planspiele und agentenbasierte Simulationen, in denen die Ungewissheit des Spiels zu Trainingszwecken oder als epistemologische Grundlage genutzt wird und andererseits um Gamification, in der keine Ungewissheit mehr zugelassen werden kann. Es wird herausgearbeitet, auf welche Weise Spiele und Spielelemente jeweils genutzt werden und wie das Kulturphänomen Spiel unter diesen Bedingungen wahrgenommen wird.
This article investigates the relationship of the player and her avatar in humorous single-player video games. Referring to slapstick performance characteristics and their perception as described by Louise Peacock (2014 Peacock, L. 2014. Slapstick and Comic Performance. Comedy and Pain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan [Google Scholar]), it discusses the concepts of empathic and goal-oriented engagement by Petri Lankoski (2010 Lankoski, P. 2010. Character-Driven Game Design. A Design Approach and Its Foundations in Character Engagement. Jyväskylä, Finland: WS Bookwell. [Google Scholar]), and proxy embodiment by Rune Klevjer (2012 Klevjer, R. 2012. “Enter the Avatar: The Phenomenology of Prosthetic Telepresence in Computer Games.” In The Philosophy of Computer Games, edited by John R. Sageng, Hallvard Fossheim, and Tarjei M. Larsen, 17–38. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) along Manual Samuel (Perfectly Paranormal 2016 Perfectly Paranormal. 2016. Manual Samuel. PC Windows. London: Curve Digital. [Google Scholar]), and Octodad: Dadliest Catch (Young Horses 2014 Young Horses. 2014. Octodad: Dadliest Catch. PC Windows. Chicago: Young Horses. [Google Scholar]). Considering mastery in ludic performance, and punishment for lack thereof, it focuses the tension between pain represented in avatar corporeality, and pain experienced by the player due to failing. Thus, this article provides a perspective that constructs the avatar-player-relationship in single-player video games as a central double act typical to slapstick performances.
Spielen ist, unabhängig davon, ob es zwischen Menschen oder Menschen und Maschinen stattfindet, eine spezielle Form der Interaktion. Den gängigen kulturwissenschaftlichen Theorien zufolge findet es außerhalb des normalen Lebens statt, ist unproduktiv, aber dennoch zielgerichtet, wird mit Ernsthaftigkeit betrieben, ist aber zugleich konsequenzvermindert und folgt (mehr oder weniger expliziten) Regeln, ist dabei aber von Ungewissheit und Offenheit geprägt. Im Spiel geht es immer auch darum, diese zunächst unvereinbar scheinenden Eigenschaften miteinander in Einklang zu bringen und mit den sich ergebenden Paradoxien umgehen zu lernen.
It is a mainstay in game studies that Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games are boasting social relations and community formation. Considering games as “sociotechnical” environments, this article studies how the usage of external communication technologies in an online video game guild shapes the members’ social dynamics. Based on a one-year ethnographic study of a women’s guild in The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO), the analysis shows that the infrastructure of TESO guards anonymous interaction by default and contributes to the game as a “safe space.” The displacement of guild communication to media platforms outside the game, however, unleashed mechanisms of disclosure: a leakage of information from the private, domestic domain via TeamSpeak and the “sharing” imperative of personal information on Facebook. Such techno-induced forms of personal disclosure act as a double-edged sword: they strengthen the guild’s social bonds but, simultaneously, breed tensions, peer-to-peer surveillance, and social control within the guild.
Gameplay is a performance in which the player both acts in and is audience to an ongoing game experience. Performance theory is influenced by feminism and performance art, which offer a rich site of feminist expression. What could be gained if this approach was applied to both the creation of and theoretical approach to digital games? The generational bonds between the rise of performance and the maturing of feminism are tightly interwoven: politically, theoretically, practically, and expressively. Perhaps the application of approaches drawn from performance theory and feminism could be a productive way to deepen the dialogue around gender and games? This chapter will explore both these questions in more depth in order to develop and deepen the use of performance theory in game studies.
This chapter examines gameplay, consent, and sex in regard to Johan Huizinga’s 1944 definition of play and concept of the “magic circle”. The author applies Huizinga’s magic circle to both contemporary sex and gameplay practices including trash talk, role play, and in game rape. The author then outlines their own experiences with gameplay, games culture, and sex to demonstrate the ways in which the consent and boundaries of other players, especially women, are not respected in person or online. The chapter concludes that while trash talk may sometimes be consensual if other players don’t consent to this behavior then it is harassment. The author then encourages gamers to adopt a model of critical consent during gameplay to make gameplay safe and pleasurable for all involved.
Background. It can be difficult to capture the subtleties of social behavior during gameplay by using existing commercial location-based mobile games as a research probe since they are not designed to reveal subtleties in player behavior. Aim. We sought to explore whether players spontaneously search for unknown fellow players and to identify ludic markers in player-player observation when playing a digital location-based mobile game that allows location spoofing in addition to automated locationing. Method. We used a constructive research approach and created a game specifically designed to allow location spoofing through self-reporting of player locations. We conducted three field trials with eight participants in total. They took part in separate field trials in groups of three, three, and two players. The participants were previously unknown to each other and commenced play at different locations inside the game area. Results and Conclusions. Qualitative analysis of the gathered video and interview material shows that the players spontaneously searched for unknown fellow players, which confirms earlier research on the topic. Further, behavioral and direct visual markers in the physical environment were reported to be the most significant cues in determining who is a player and who is not.
This book argues that games offer a means of coming to terms with a world that is being transformed by digital technologies. As blends of software and fiction, videogames are uniquely capable of representing and exploring the effects of digitization on day-to-day life. By modeling and incorporating new technologies (from artificial intelligence routines and data mining techniques to augmented reality interfaces), and by dramatizing the implications of these technologies for understandings of identity, nationality, sexuality, health and work, games encourage us to playfully engage with these issues in ways that traditional media cannot.
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