Wellness Calendar: Monday 7 July

Games and game-play
What do you think of games and game-playing? Do you love it? Hate it? Does it depend on the kind of game and type of players you’ll encounter? As ever, let’s explore this theme from a wellness perspective…
One definition of game is ‘a structured form of play’. Another comes from Bernard Suits, a philosopher of gaming: “the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles”. He believed that playing games was part of the human condition as well as being a part of living a good life. He saw the idea of having rules within games as a device to hinder an attempt to achieve something and thereby making the play stimulating and insightful – as it requires the players to become resourceful.
Meanwhile, sociologist Roger Caillois saw game-playing as needing an element of uncertainty, having a distinct lack of useful productivity, coupled with an ability to enter into an alternative reality.
There are publications on games that children play in the street that have been passed down from one generation to the next as part of a rich folklore tapestry. These are games where adults do not intrude on the players or the playing. One such book by Iona and Peter Opie (1969) split these games up into the following categories: chasing, catching, seeking, hunting, racing, duelling, exerting, daring, guessing, acting and pretending. Below are some of their thoughts and observations.
“A true game is one that frees the spirit. It allows of no cares but those fictitious ones engendered by the game itself.”
“Children gain the reassurance that comes with repetition, and the feeling of fellowship that comes from doing the same as everyone else.”
“Little attempt is made to establish the superiority of one player over another.”
“[Players] can gain knowledge of sensations beyond ordinary experience.”
Even though they have matured, adults still carry their inner child with them. Could it be that game-playing, at least once in a while, would be enough to nourish the parts of us that feed off this unique time-out from everyday life?