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Play is one of the fundamental human activities and provokes core emotions.
Many evolutionary biologists and psychologists suggested that play was solely a
deterministic and utilitarian pursuit (Gordon, 2007) but Huizinga (1950) argues
that play is an activity that exists only for its sake; is fully absorbing, includes
elements of uncertainty, involves a sense of illusion or exaggeration and is
separate from ordinary life. Play theorist, Brian Sutton-Smith (1997) believes
that the dynamics of play mirror the biological processes that lead to adaptive
variability, that is, play is characterised by quirkiness, unpredictability and
redundancy.
From our earliest days, play is instinctive behaviour. It is also, despite its
separation from ordinary life, a crucial part of learning. Piaget (1962) recognised
socio-dramatic play as a component of the preoperational stage of development
within children. This role-playing helps children establish accepted norms of
behaviour in society and helps them identify their place in it (Hyder, 2005) and
according to many teachers, when children play they learn how to manage
school and family issues (Newman, 1996). Play detaches experiences from real
life and creates a new framework for them that enables greater freedom,
interactivity and creative possibilities (Millar, 1968).
A game is structured play: a set of activities involving one or more players; it has
goals, constraints and consequences; it has rules; it involves some aspect of a
contest or a trial of skill or ability (Dempsey et al, 1997).
Crawford (2003) extends the definition of a game, and especially digital games,
as a series of dichotomies - elements that when compared become a game. The
elements are:
Additional references
Dempsey, J., Lucassen, B., Haynes, L. & Casey, M. (1997). An Exploratory Study
of Forty Computer Games Coe Technical Report No. 97-2, University of South
Alabama. Available at http://www.southalabama.edu/
coe/coe/programs/TechReports/tr97_2.pdf Last Accessed 28 February 2010