Contextual Studies- Roger Caillois

Roger Caillois' game definitions
In this session we discussed Roger Caillois (1923-1978) and his definition of 'play'. Some of his work included the systematic classification of games, 'Man, Play and Games', where he stated that games create a closed, seperate space to everyday life where people can escape themselves and become someone else. He claimed there are seperate attitudes of play:

• Paedia (Greek for Children): power of improvisation and joy
• Ludus: Rule bound nature of games

He stated there are two types of game:

• Agon (Greek for conflict): games based on conflict
• Alea: games that surrender to chance, destiny.

Examples of Agon:

1. Call Of Duty
2. Dead Island
3. Racing games
4. sport games
5. Alan Wake
6. MGS
7. Portal
8. War games

Examples of Alea:

1. Fable 3
2. MGS
3. Digitalised board games
4. Pokemon
5. Portal
6. Animal crossing

He also claimed that games could be classified into how they convey the world:

• Mimicry: Imitating other peoples voices, gestures or appearences
• Ilinx-(means vertigo) destroying perception, a desire for destruction.

Examples of Mimicry:

1. RPGs
2. Sims
3. virtual life simulators

Examples of Ilinx:

1. Red Faction
2. Civilization/Tropico
3. Kula World

For a small assignment we had to challenge this idea of Caillois about play:

'A characteristic of play… is that it creates no wealth or goods, thus differing from work 

or art. At the end of the game, all can and must start over again from the same point. 

Nothing has been harvested or manufactured, no masterpiece has been created, no capital 

has accrued. Play is an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill, 

and often of money… 

As for the professionals – the boxers, cyclists, jockeys, or actors who earn their living in 

the ring, track, or hippodrome or on the stage … it is clear that they are not players but 

workers. When they play, it is at some other game. (Caillois: 1962: p.5)'

This is my argument:

Caillois's statement that games and play are a waste of time can be argued strongly against. His ideas about play being of waste of time and money as nothing is gained from it are completely flawed. It is true that nothing material is gained from play, however playing a game is similar to reading, and modern games have such engrossing stories that playing them is like getting lost in a good book. Some games for children, also encourage teamwork and learning. Therefore not all play has no outcome. Children can learn a lot from play. Play also makes life a lot more enjoyable. The seriousness and intensity of life is dulled during play. A person can completely lose themselves in a game, forgetting about problems. Therefore play has qualities of escapism and enjoyment, letting the player lose themselves completely in another reality. Caillois also states that those who are professionals in play are not players but workers. However, in my opinion this is completely false as the professionals started off merely as players, so just because they are earning from it doesn't mean they no longer enjoy the game. He also states that when they play, 'it is at some other game'. I also feel this is false, as a jockey for example will still ride horses for fun, even when they are not racing.