April 24: Social PlayTodayThe Magic CircleCriticisms of the idea of the magic circleSorry!/Parcheesi a shallow abstract game. Why is it social?The meanings players add to a gameSocially embeddable gamesAnimal Crossing: Social embedding out-of-gameA story of game meaningLegend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Social embedding in-gameGames and players: Social meaning attaches to goalsThree frames for game-playingThree frames in Sorry/ParcheesiGoals are good for telling storiesExercise (pick one or two)Social play?Game DesignCMS.608/CMS.864For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms. MIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu CMS.608 / CMS.864 Game DesignSpring 2008April 24: Social PlayGame DesignCMS.608/CMS.864Jesper JuulToday• Social play!•Exercise!The Magic Circle• Salen & Zimmerman, “This is Not a Game: Play in Cultural Environments” (2003)• The classical notion of a game implies that there is a clear andunambiguous border between the game and the world outside the game, manifest most clearly in Huizinga's concept of the "magic circle." The magic circle of a game is a delineation in time and space of the game's existence: the sports match, for example, takes place only within the borders of the playfield, for a duration that lasts between the starting whistle and the final second of play.• While this model of a game does describe many experiences of play, there are many examples of games that purposefully blur the border between the world of the game and "real life." From live-action role-playing games to games like Majestic or Assassin, there is a wide variety of games that intentionally blend in with their surrounding cultural environment.Criticisms of the idea of the magic circle• Thomas Malaby, “Beyond Play: A New Approach to Games”(2006)• [...] games thinkers have relied on an exceptionalist approach to games, seeing them as a form of play necessarily set apart from the everyday, and therefore requiring a distinct treatment. In short, this inherited and largely unexamined theory of games assumes there is a rupture (in experience, in form) between games and other aspects of social life. But while understandable, this is precisely the wrong approach. • [...] we must work from an approach that: (1) sees them as never fully separable from other aspects of experience• [...] This approach is both consistent with a range of existing social theory and avoids many of the limitations that have characterized much games scholarship to date, in particular its tendency toward unsustainable formalism and exceptionalism.Sorry!/Parcheesi a shallow abstract game. Why is it social?Images courtesy flickr users DrBaloney and robotpolisherThe meanings playersadd to a gameImage courtesy flickr user altuwa.Socially embeddable games••Game as Game as puzzle piecepuzzle piecethat fits into that fits into a contexta context••Games latch on to existing social Games latch on to existing social structuresstructures••GiftGift--giving, helpfulnessgiving, helpfulness••InIn--game helpfulnessgame helpfulness––As outAs out--ofof--game condescension game condescension ••InIn--game antagonism as game antagonism as unfriendlinessunfriendliness––Or as outOr as out--ofof--game friendlinessgame friendlinessAnimal Crossing:Social embedding out-of-gameImage removed due to copyright restrictions. Please see any screenshot of Animal Crossing, such as http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2002/gamecube/animalcrossing/animal_screen002.jpgA story of game meaninghttp://animalcrossingtragedy.ytmnd.com/Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessSocial embedding in-gameImages removed due to copyright restrictions. Please see screenshots from Ilia’s kidnapping and Link’s transformation into a wolf, such as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXNfxBRx1GkGames and players: Social meaning attaches to goals1. Players play for personal goals2. They are aware of goals of other players3. Helping / thwarting goals. Knowing that they know that you know etc...• Shared understanding of goals lets players be nice and not-so-nice to other players.• Goals allow in-game actions to be attached to social setting.Three frames for gameThree frames for game--playingplayingThree frames in Sorry/ParcheesiYou have the opportunity to capture. Now what?1.You want to win - capture!2.Other player is far behind –don’t capture.3.Ongoing competition with other player – capture!Goals are good for telling stories• Tellability (Ryan)• Bad story: Plan that succeeded.• Good story: Plan that failed.• Tellability adds social value.Exercise (pick one or two)Take existing non-digital game.1. That only allows hostility (blocking other player’s goals) and add the possibility of helpfulness2. Make game involve social taboos3. Find way to bring more social content into the game4. Find way to bring more social content out of the game5. Enhance social dynamics like in “Rooie rules”•Playtest• Present 16:25Social play?• How do you get the most out of