Last Friday, Studio Resident and UWE academic Seth Giddings gave a Lunchtime Talk on the subject of children and imaginative play in the era of the videogame. The talk was a brief introduction to some of the key ideas explored in a book he has recently written on the subject.

Seth started the talk by drawing our attention to some of the key juxtapositions often brought up in discussions about play: Play vs. Games, reality vs. fantasy, reality vs. virtuality, rules vs. imagination and technology vs. nature. He then illustrated a simplified contrast between ‘old fashioned’ play and videogames by asking us to compare a painting from the late 19th Century of children playing with a miniature horse and carriage, and a screenshot of Grand Theft Auto, alongside a photographic portrait of a gamer, taken from Robbie Cooper’s Immersion series. The similarities of these two types of play lie in the fact that both of their narratives are about dramatic travel, the difference lies in the contrast between tangible and intangible play.

Seth quoted Surrealist sociologist Roger Caillois, who wrote extensively on the definition of play;

The domain of play, after all, constitutes a kind of islet, artificially dedicated to calculated competition, limited risks, inconsequential make-believe and meaningless panic. (Caillois 1962)

All play presupposes the temporary acceptance, if not of an illusion (indeed this last word means nothing less than beginning a game: in-lusio), then at least of a closed, conventional, and, in certain respects, imaginary universe. (Caillois 1962)

Caillois divided play into two categories, Ludus, meaning play structured by rules (e.g. chess) and Paida, meaning unstructured, spontaneous, play (e.g. rolling down a hill). Seth went on to demonstrate that videogame narratives do not limit a child to solo, structured play, but can often act as an imaginative framework for interaction and play in the real world.

We watched a few videos of Seth’s children playing with friends, and it soon became apparent that general themes or terminology taken from videogames were being used as part of the stories that they were playing out. One film showed them playing ‘Grand Theft Farmer’ a game they came up with when they came across a stationary tractor on a day out. They hopped on and off of the tractor as if it was moving, calling each other ‘gangster farmers’ and holding gun-shaped sticks. It was interesting to see this after Seth had showed us the image of 19th Century play, contrasted with GTA, as this seemed to be a fusion of the two. Seth then showed us a video essay he had made on the subject of ‘transduction of a virtual world into actual world play’. This time, the narrative and virtual conventions of a game called Age of Mythology informed and inspired actual world play of children in a paddling pool with toys.

Noticeable differences between videogames and other media are that they are structured by levels and powers. In most examples of gameplay, you progress through a map, and measure success by your character’s quantified accumulation of objects and abilities. Seth showed us a collection of children’s’ drawings in which characters and their different abilities were given numerical values, much like in top trumps. He also showed us drawings of battle scenes, where health bars had been drawn next to stick men.

Seth told us that the term gameworld is often taken to mean what is going on on the screen, but he considers the virtual gameworld to be nestled in a larger gameworld, consisting of the events and activities surrounding gameplay. He showed us a video of his sons playing Bamzooki, whilst having a lively discussion. Seth told us when he sees children playing videogames, they are rarely completely passified by them, more often than not they are talking to each other; discussing tactics, creating stories and jumping around.

Seth then went on to talk about the notion that children are training for adult life through their play, and the worry that by miming gunfights, they are demonstrating an inclination towards violence. He told us that he strongly disagrees with this, and that kids pick up on things that they have heard or seen, and turn them into ‘phantasmagoria’, or play in an unstructured fantasy world. Imitating gun fights is a well known dynamic play mechanic, and we could just as well describe it as dramatized tag. Verity then made the point that perhaps they are learning through play, but less about mummys, daddys, doctors or gangsters, and more about assertion, control and negotiation.

After the talk, we continued to have a lively discussion about videogames, and the stigma surrounding virtual play. This is a popular topic in the Studio, and will no doubt be intensified by the arrival of the upcoming REACT Play Sandbox, so keep an eye on our Events page for related upcoming talks. Seth's book, Gameworlds: Virtual Media and Children's Everyday Play, is coming out this August.