On the Qualities of Play

Summing up the formal characteristics of play we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside “ordinary” life as being “not serious,” but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings which tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress their difference from the common world by disguise or other means. (p.13)

Huizinga provides his definition of play by outlining specific qualities of the activity.

The first quality is freedom. Huizinga defines play as something that is entered into freely and voluntarily. It’s never a requirement or task. This seems to reinforce his belief in the inherent value of play.

The second quality of play is its limitedness. Huizinga’s play is set apart from “ordinary” life, only existing within a designated time and space that lies outside of the “real” world. This is the “magic circle” concept that is referenced in game design theory. The power of play is such that players are willing to suspend their participation in the real world to perform in the arena of play.

Lastly, play is ordered. It is governed by absolute rules that players must follow. Huizinga muses that this ordering is perhaps what gives play its aesthetic quality; we see the execution of its underlying order as beautiful.

For game designers and proponents of play, these qualities are some nice starting points for articulating what makes play special. But as a designer looking at how play can frame broader design contexts, the definition feels limiting in some ways. In particular, the requirement for play to be considered as separate from the “real” world seems to diminish the possibilities of using playful mindsets and methods to explore or understand “real” world issues.

But perhaps this isn’t Huizinga’s intention. He sees play as fundamental aspect of human culture and a vital complement to life.

[Play] adorns life, amplifies it and is to that extent a necessity both for the individual—as a life function—and for society by reason of the meaning it contains, its significance, its expressive value, its spiritual and social associations, in short, as a culture function. (p.9)

And so, perhaps we can understand life better through play, because it is set apart from it.