What is Play & What Are Games, anyway? A Play+ Explainer

Play: The Essence of Curiosity

Play is a self-directed engagement with novel, consequent opportunities—driven by curiosity and the intrinsic joy of exploration. It is the fundamental expression of creativity and adaptability, allowing individuals or teams to discover, experiment, and grow within their environment.

Key characteristics of play include:

  1. Self-Direction: Play originates from the intrinsic motivation of the participant, without the need for external goals or rewards.
  2. Curiosity-Driven: It thrives on exploration and the drive to interact with new affordances in the environment.
  3. Open-Ended: Play does not require a fixed outcome; its value lies in the process of engagement and discovery.
  4. Joyful Engagement: Play is inherently enjoyable, fostering a sense of freedom and creativity.
  5. Adaptability: It provides a flexible platform for participants to test limits, learn from mistakes, and adapt to changing conditions.

Play creates a fertile ground for growth and innovation, enabling participants to unlock new possibilities and deepen their connection to their environment. It is the purest form of interaction with the affordance landscape, setting the stage for more structured forms of engagement.

Game: Play with Purpose

A game begins with a question—a spark of curiosity that organizes the freeform energy of play into a structured, intentional system. A game is a structured, dynamic system of consequent opportunity and interaction that aligns opportunity, expectancy, and achievement within a shared flow, fostering the intentional coupling of actions and skills to produce emergent, meaningful outcomes.

Key characteristics of a game include:

  1. A Structured Framework: Games provide rules and enabling constraints that shape the environment and define possible interactions.
  2. Goal-Oriented: While play is open-ended, games introduce objectives that guide the participants’ focus and actions.
  3. Dynamic System: Games evolve as participants interact, creating new opportunities and feedback loops that sustain engagement.
  4. Consequent Opportunities and Interactions: Every action within a game generates new affordances and opportunities for further interaction, driving the flow of the experience.
  5. Alignment of Opportunity, Expectancy, and Achievement: Games balance anticipation with skillful execution, delivering satisfying outcomes through purposeful effort.
  6. Intentional Coupling: By design, games encourage the alignment of actions, skills, and environmental affordances to produce meaningful achievements.

How Play and Games Work Together

Play as the Foundation:

Play is the raw energy and generative force behind all engagement. It seeks out novel opportunities and builds the capacity for exploration. Play’s open-ended nature allows for unstructured discovery, creativity, and adaptation. This spontaneity forms the basis for games.

Game as Structured Play:

A game organizes the energy of play into a purposeful structure. It begins with a question—a challenge, a problem, or an opportunity—that channels curiosity and creativity into intentional interactions. Through its rules and goals, a game creates a shared flow, aligning participants’ efforts toward meaningful outcomes.

Shared Dynamics:

Both play and games rely on:

  • Consequent Opportunities: Each interaction generates new affordances, driving continued engagement.
  • Curiosity and Exploration: Whether open-ended (play) or guided (game), curiosity drives participation.
  • Growth and Achievement: Both foster skill development, emotional attunement, and deeper connection to the environment.

Key Differentiations:

  • Play: Self-directed, freeform, and joy-driven, play emphasizes discovery and adaptability without external objectives.
  • Game: Goal-oriented and structured, a game channels the energy of play into focused efforts and achievements.

Complementary Roles:

Play provides the creativity and openness necessary to generate new possibilities, while games refine this energy into skillful execution and purposeful interaction. Together, they form a complete cycle of engagement, from curiosity to mastery.

Conclusion

Play and games are interdependent phenomena that capture the essence of exploration and growth. Play sparks curiosity and opens the door to new opportunities, while games shape this energy into structured, meaningful achievements. Together, they embody the dynamic interplay of freedom and purpose, creativity and intentionality, central to the Play+ philosophy.

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