Playing from Different Perspectives

In the first session, we each enjoyed the game and discussed various ways of playing together. Even if you play the same game, the impression can be different for each individual player, and depending on each approach, the possibilities of creating a colorful story in the game are endless. How are the ways of writing and speaking about the games achieved in various spaces since games began to become common? We looked back on our own approach to games and explored how we could share our own reflections with others.

What is play? “Play” in “game” has a variety of meanings beyond just a playful dimension. Play is usually defined as the act of a person following something set. The process of reproducing something in accordance with the rules is usually called play. In games, the world within one game is expressed as “rules.” We create new results through our own interpretations and variations in this world. 

This process is the “play” of the game. Since games do not have a structure of one-way communication, we can freely accept games. In other words, play involves the process in which the player reveals his or her interpretation. It can be said that the rules of the game and the player interact with each other and continue to reveal the possibilities of further interpretation. The pursuit of this diversity in play starts with “limited rules,” and in particular, as they enter the realm of digital games, players seek diversity in more diverse forms. Among these various possibilities of play, we wanted to focus on the potential of games as media.

“Play” is itself a message and an ideology. In the unconscious or consciousness of the game creator, the game continuously reflects the consciousness and message of the present society. This spreads with the possibility of another interpretation and re-creation along with the concept of “play” discussed above. This applies to all of the different implications of play. This applies to both the play that faithfully follows the rules presented in the game, or the play that explores the exterior of the rules and emphasizes the player’s autonomy as a creative user.

We have been paying attention to play that goes beyond the rules. The “rules” in the game itself are interpretations and representations of the world. A rule as a symbol or message is not a simple rule, but a rule defined and processed by a program. It is like another story created within the game. The play itself is very creative and diverse.

Just playing the game itself is enough to convey messages and meanings. However, the challenge of critical play, which changes and reinterprets the fixed rules, casts another message in itself, indicating that the need for new writing and playing of the game has arrived.