Darragh D.'s Blog

  In order to survive, human beings must breathe, consume food and water, get sleep, and keep warm through wearing clothing or by finding heated shelter. These physiological needs form the base of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1943), a concept created by Abraham that categorises the types of needs people have and the importance of those needs. A simplified version of the hierarchy of needs. When it comes to games , they would seemingly fit within the Esteem category. Completing a game, especially a challenging one, rewards a person with a sense of pride and accomplishment.   However, it can be argued that play also overlaps with other categories in the hierarchy. Playing among family and friends helps strengthen or maintain bonds, supporting the Belonging section of the hierarchy. Play can also serve as a means to generate income, fulfilling the need for financial security in the Safety section of the hierarchy. For example, the average salary for a footballer ...

What is a game? A game can be thought of as a mode of play, yet that offers little in defining what features mark something as a game . Many academics and professional game designers have offered their opinions on what a game is.   Different Definitions and Commonalities In Homo Ludens (1984) by Johan Huizinga, a game is defined as a non-serious activity existing outside of normal life and follows rules which only occur within its own boundaries, also known as a magic circle . In Playing for Real (2008) by Tom and Janice Baranowski, a game is defined as “a physical or mental contest with a goal or objective, played according to a framework, or rules, that determines what a player can and cannot do inside a game world.”   In The Grasshopper (1978) by Bernard Suits, a game is defined as “the voluntary effort to overcome unnecessary obstacles.”   In Rules of Play (2004) by Katie Salen and Zimmerman, a game is defined as “a system in which players engage in an ar...

  The magic circle is a concept of a border between the real world and the space of play, where the rules of reality are accepted as being different. The name comes from how some games, such as marbles , involves drawing a circle on the ground, which acts as the field of play. In the game of hide and seek , a player given the role of seeker must look away from the players acting as hiders so they have enough time to hide, the seeker must then explore and find all the hiders. The seeker wins if they discover all the hiders. The hiders win if at least one remains hidden until the seeker admits defeat or a certain amount of time passes. One may step back and observe the game’s rules as arbitrary, especially when compared to instances in nature of predators hunting hiding prey. These hunters don’t stop and close their eyes to give their quarry a chance to find a good spot to hide nor would a discovered animal automatically submit to a predator; it may attempt to fight or flee if giv...