Reading Response #6 to Artful Design • Chapter 6: “Game Design”
Sami Wurm
Nov 6th, 2022
Music 256A / CS476a, Stanford University
Reading Response: Let’s Gamify
From this week’s reading, I’d like to respond to Artful Design Principle 6.1, which states:
Principle 6.1: PLAY is what we DO when we are FREE, PLAY is what we DO to be FREE.
Play is both a consequence and an authentic expression of freedom. It is, by definition, the absence of external purpose. We engage in play out of choice. And we play for the sheer intrinsic worth of the activity.
I love this definition of play because by this definition, to play is one of the few things in this life that we can never be forced to do. If we were forced, it wouldn’t be play. Because play holds the intrinsic value of choice and freedom.
What have my friends and I been doing for fun/for ‘play’ lately? I swim. I sing. We play BananaGrams. We climb things. We listen to music. We sneak into neighborhood hot tubs. We go to concerts. I read. I find local cafes with cute art on the walls where I can sit and look mysterious and people-watch. We try new foods. We play games where we make each other laugh (i.e. ChartyParty, Avalon, QuipLash, etc). We play games where we simply get to know each other more deeply (We’reNotReallyStrangers, Where Should We Begin, etc). We bike. We sit at the beach. We watch silly and dramatic and funny and sad shows.
Listing all of these activities out reminds me of how weird humans are. Why are we so encapsulated by simple experiences? Why do we want to feel happy and silly sometimes but sad and tragic at other times? Why do we need games and challenges to connect with one another? It is refreshing to look at all of these activities as freeing/liberating, and to think about what it is that makes us choose to do them. When given the freedom of choice, why do we choose to spend our time this way?
Well, I think a lot of the reasons were covered in this chapter. As discussed in Principle 6.4, we want to discover and explore new worlds and narratives; we want to express ourselves and reflect on our understanding of the world/of one another; and we want to experience challenge and fellowship as we try to form community bonds and develop into the people we want to be.
All of these reasons for play were truly made clear to me in this chapter through the case-studies. The two most striking case-studies, to me, were Save The Date and That Dragon, Cancer. I have never thought about games in this all-encompassing way before. As experiences that can be thought-provoking, empathy-invoking, and something that makes us more connected to ourselves and the world around us. I have thought of ‘games’ more as an escape, a mindless passtime, or a source of pleasure and thrill by means of overcoming a challenge or participating in a competition. Looking at games through this lens, as experiences that contain the same levels of freedom, meaning, and play as music or movies (but with more interaction!), I better understand their purpose.
In an era where we are constantly bombarded by distractions and worries about the past and future, I believe that games and the concept of ‘play’ can be one of the best ways to get grounded in the present moment. When we are captured by joy, engagement, or a more profound understanding of ourselves, we are fully present in that moment. It is hard for one’s mind to wander too far when we are truly in a state of play.
Furthermore, in a time where people have become more and more afraid to try things that they are new-to or not ‘good’ at, I can clearly see how gamifying experiences would lower the barrier to entry on many new experiences. Therefore, gamifying more designs/experiences will open the door for more play in everyone’s lives and allow people to experience more presence, grounding, freedom, and happiness.
I think that we should all take the time to play. I am happy to now have this framework to think about what makes games fun and freeing, and how I can implement these ideas into my designs going forward. Specifically, I think the most important goals for my work personally are to imbue a sense of reflection, fellowship, narrative, and sensation. I want to make my audiences feel free and present. I want them to have memories that are ends-in-themselves and that remind them why life is worth living simply for the small beautiful moments that cannot be taken away. I want them to experience moments of “self-discovery and authenticity” (page 353).
As artists, if we want our audiences to freely choose to engage with us and ‘play’ with our works, then we must consider what it is about our works that would make someone who is completely free to choose anything, to choose the experience that we are creating.