The Power of Play

This post is by Phil Minchin and is cross posted from the International Games Day Blog.

Phil worked in publishing, arts production, NGO governance and campaigning, and library IT in Melbourne, Australia. There he got interested in the evolving relationships between libraries, communities, games, interactivity, systems and UI design. He now presents and consults to libraries and game companies on these issues, helping to develop games & interactivity strategies that blend the best of old and new media to support intelligent, literate engagement across the full range of modern culture  Phil coordinates the Global Gossip Game for  IGD and rang me up from Australia to ensure that everything ran smoothly, that's commitment for you.

Thanks to Phil for letting us post this here.

Darren



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Play is to games what reading is to books: the underlying verb that enables the noun, but is applicable well beyond it. Reading, as a peculiar eye-based (also finger-based, and even - thanks to audiobooks - increasingly back-to-being-ear-based) subset of listening, is used for signage, notes, instructions, lists, and a ton of other chunks of information and culture besides books. Likewise, play is used for many things beyond formal games: teasing, joking, various informal contests and challenges, notional tinkering, creation, and many more. As such, it’s worth pointing out the many important aspects of life empowered by play.
Here's a list of a few key areas in which play is crucial:

• Innovation – There is tremendous value in a systematic grinding-through of possibility spaces, but the fact remains that play is a phenomenal way to apply the power of the brain to exploring new ideas. It’s telling that computers, which excel in the first kind of problem-solving, are still taking longer than human brains (at least those with an aptitude for this sort of thing) to solve questions of protein-folding, RNA-shaping and similar activities. Regardless, in an economy increasingly driven by innovation, play is only becoming more important as a life skill.
• Freedom – The essence of play is a pocket of possibility-space which may be shaped and limited by external constraints, but produces a place and time in which unconstrained action according to one’s nature is possible. (Even a formal game may have rules, but if there’s no room for individual decisions and/or skill, i.e. for a player to actually play it, it’s not much of a game!) In political-economic contexts, this quality reads an awful lot like “freedom”. This isn’t a coincidence.
• Health (including happiness) – Just on first principles, it should be obvious that play – activity that expresses and exercises one’s nature, determined by internal impulses rather than external ones – will tend to be conducive to health and general wellbeing. And there’s a ton of research to support this. At the most obvious level, physical play (fun exercise) tends to be good for physical health. Mental play sharpens memory, focus, perception, comprehension, and decision-making, hence the profusion of “brain-training games” (and see again the talk linked earlier, Your Brain on Video Games). Setting meaningful challenges for ourselves, whether through a formal game/program like Superbetter or informally, not only helps us overcome particular obstacles but trains us to expect that obstacles in general can and will be overcome. Social play (such as Werewolf) uses and expands on our connection to others.
• Learning – This is obvious from the links to innovation – which could partly be defined as “learning things nobody else yet knows”! – but if anything this is the primary purpose of play (and the fact that it’s good for our health is because learning things is healthy, is what our organism is naturally disposed to do). This is so much the case that (as I mention in the post on innovation) the quote I used for the Global Gossip Game in 2013, “play is training for the unexpected”, was not from educational theorists but from mammalian biologists Špinka, Newberry and Bekoff. Clearly the drive to learn and experiment is ingrained in us at a bodily level… hence, again, the links to health!
• Promoting activity – I’m talking here not just about physical activity, but the assumption that thought and analysis will lead to concrete action: play isn’t just about comprehending the systems with which the game’s creator has presented you, it’s about you doing something with them. That leads to better thinking and better acting, as well as more productive uses of both.
• Inclusion and community-building – In addition to being a way to foster community connectedness, play is a way for people to explore difficult issues such as discriminatory beliefs and the ways that they shape behaviour (which in turn feeds back into beliefs), and also to spend time with other folks and learn about them as actual individuals rather than instances of a stereotype, both in relative safety and comfort.

Any one of these associations would qualify play as pretty important, even by the narrow, numerical criteria which govern so much of our key decision making (except perhaps freedom, because it’s too hard to quantify). More holistic, humanistic values can only increase the value placed on play as something deeply rooted in the best of the human experience.

To be clear, I am not saying that frivolity should reign supreme and that work doesn’t matter. I’m trying to break the false opposition of play and work (they may be very much in tension in some respects, but play is ultimately a form of self-imposed, more-or-less self-directed work; the best work feels like playing; and the best workers are those who work in that playful, motivated, engaged way), the false association of play and frivolity (one can play seriously, and grimly grind away at something completely frivolous, and these are not the same thing), and the false assumption that frivolity is inherently unworthy. (See this post on fun.)

Play is central to our humanity. It has produced many of the best parts of our collective and individual experiences, and enabled us to find solutions to (and, failing that, temporary escapes from) many of the worst. For us to continue to treat it as an inferior part of culture, when it is in varying forms and ways a central part of all culture, is a mistake we should not continue to make.

Phil Minchin

Violence Solves Everything - Modelling the Mordant 303rd Part 2

I arrived back from holiday late last Saturday to see an unexpected package waiting for me, then it dawned on me the Victoria Miniatures Arcadian Rifles miniatures I had pre-ordered several months ago had finally arrived. They are rather lovely resin figures with pretty reasonable prices in comparison to Games Workshops resin products (and free postage from Australia).

With some proper female miniatures in place I now have the job of converting and painting figures to represent my long term Dark Heresy character and the PCs and NPCs in the Only War prequel campaign that I am running. In the roleplaying game roughly half of the Regiment is female, I doubt I'll manage anywhere near that in the 40K army but I aim to create all of the important players from the campaign

I am planning on making two versions of my character, Veteran Sergeant Rizpah Jair.



Female Arcadian Guard from Victoria Miniatures.

Metal Cadian with head sawp for size comparison

One will be "Riz", the fresh faced hyperactive teenage punk that features as an NPC in my Only War game, featuring Tank Girl-esque bright pink hair and a slew of tattoos showing her allegiances prior to joining the Guard. Actually in my version of the Regiment all of the Mordant troopers use tattoos to show their allegiances to gangs, mining companies and fellow troopers (They also have their ranks tattooed to their arms - if your uniform is sleeveless what better place to put them).

The second version will be the hardened veteran who faces the horrors of purestrain genestealers when her company are almost entirely destroyed whilst reconnoitring a space hulk. The bright hair is long gone, now dyed black, and her face is heavily tattooed in the style of black metal makeup. In addition to her standard regimental equipment she also now carries a pair of Triplex pattern "Fury" assault laspistols and a trophy knife fashioned from the claws of a Tyranid.

In my next Mordant related post I'll introduce the other PCs and NPCs of the Only War campaign that I intend to convert for my 40K army.

Men Must Die So Man Endures: The First Squads of the Mordant 303rd

1989 Imperial Guard Commissar.

 

Over the last month or so I have been putting together some miniatures for the start of my Mordant army. I already had 2 old metal Cadian squads, however some of these are already pained in other colour schemes and I don't want to use the old flamers or heavy weapons. I also have an old Cadian Lieutenant model with shotgun, an old Cadian Comms trooper and a very old (1989) Commissar with power fist and power sword. Added to these I have a squad of old metal ratlings, who I may or may not use, a Mordian Lieutenant, who will be used as my Captain, and a Chimera.

Cadian with sleeveless arms

from Victoria Miniatures.

 

I've been lucky that one of my friends is converting a Genswick guard army and has gifted me a load of plastic Cadian parts, which I have used as the basis for my next squad. These Cadian bitz were pretty much complete models but without the arms, looking around I found that Victoria Miniatures produce sleeveless arms, and I have bought a handful of these to use. Rather than just use Cadian heads I plan to make everything a bit more varied, using Catachan heads and converting some heads from other manufacturers such as MaxMini.



One notable feature of the army will be inclusion of female guard, this is a bit of a difficulty because there is a distinct lack of suitable female miniatures. Head swaps with the old Escher miniatures would have been suitable but they are rather pricey now they are out of production. So instead I've bought some female heads from two other companies, Statuesque and Brother Vinni, and have acquired a couple from Wargames Factory via my friend. Sadly the Statuesque ones are simply far too small for use on GW minis and though the Brother Vinni ones are really awesome sculpts they are also a little on the small side. Thankfully Victoria Miniatures are currently pre-ordering for some female guard who will fit right in, so I have bought a squad of these.


Conversions for my Mordant Army. From left Brother Vinni Machine Gunner

 with Cadian Head swap, Cadians with Victoria Miniature Arms and Brother

Vinni Head, OOP Metal Cadian Head and Regular Cadian head with Victoria

Miniature Goggles.

My next move is to buy the Cadian and Catachan command squads as well as a couple of regular Cadian squads to finish the bulk of the troops before picking up some Sentinals and converting some more unusual pieces for the army, such as the sentry guns.

Call of Cthulhu Summary: Part 2

May 7^th 1933

Bedford, Gumshoe and Hemingway arrive at the Ocean House estate at 10 am, to find that the gas lamps outside the hotel are lit; as they trio approach a lamp explodes, showering them all in glass. Bedford tries to open the main doors to the hotel but finds them locked and so the Bedford and Hemingway decide to search a workman’s hut nearby for the key; neither of them find a key. Gumshoe decides to join the other two in the workman’s hut but is injured by a rogue lumber cart - using a strip of his clothes and alcohol in his hipflask, Gumshoe bandages his injured leg. Afterwards Hemingway remembers that Miss Vixen had given them a key beforehand and so she unlocks the main doors and the trio enter the Ocean House hotel.

As Bedford, Gumshoe and Hemingway enter the hotel, the main doors slide shut behind them, locking them in. Hemingway slaps Gumshoe for having forgotten to get the key from the lock as he entered last and therefore Gumshoe decides to climb out of a window to retrieve the key. However when he gets to the main doors, the key is nowhere to be found and is perturbed to find he can no longer find the window which he climbed out of.

Gumshoe resolves to use a stick of dynamite to blow open the main doors of hotel but actually sets off the dynamite too early, vaporising his right hand. Howling in pain, he wraps his coat around the stump which used to be his right hand and stumbles off to the workman’s hut, where he slides down into a corner and slowly exsanguinates to death.

 Bedford and Hemmingway are unaware of their colleague’s death having only heard the explosion of dynamite.

 

 

No further information is known

Piers

Call of Cthulhu Summary: Part 1

Our latest guest blogger, Piers, with a summary of Saturdays Call of Cthulhu game. I recognise a lot of the names in this one and if it was inspired by what I think it was this should be a cracking game.

Darren

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Incident Report

Anna Vixen (singer, actress and entrepreneur) hired 3 individuals to investigate the claims from her building contractor that the Ocean Hotel estate was haunted. Having invested a lot into the estate herself, Miss Vixen would be facing financial ruin if the workforce refused to return. The following are the 3 individuals hired by Miss Vixen:

Dr Warren Bedford     -           Professor of European History at Bournemouth University

Artie Gumshoe            -           American Private investigator

Rachel Hemingway     -           Freelance journalist and writer

 

May 6^th 1933

Bedford, Gumshoe and Hemingway decide to meet with each other to discuss their first line of investigation into the haunting claims. It is decided that they need to gather as much information regarding the history of the Ocean House estate as possible.

Bedford, Gumshoe and Hemingway all squeeze into Bedford’s vehicle and make their way to the local library.

At the library Hemmingway searches newspaper articles whilst Gumshoe pursues police reports and Bedford tries to find the public records room.

Hemingway’s search through old newspaper reports revealed that Marcus Vӧrman built and opened the Hotel in 1851. Over the course of 7 days, 5 people were randomly murdered and 5 people burned alive in a mysterious fire. It was thought that the deaths were random and as such, none of them were solved – all becoming cold cases. Mr Vӧrman passed away elsewhere 3 years later in 1854.

Bedford failed to find the public records room after having been distracted by an ivory ornament.

Gumshoe found that the murders where mysteriously cruel and all took place late in the evening except the fire which started in the early afternoon. The three prime suspects were Mr Osborne, master Richards (a guest at the hotel) and the owner Mr Vӧrman.

After realising that Bedford was useless, Hemingway led both gentlemen to the public records room where trio discover Maria and Jeanette (born 1901) are the surviving descendants of Mr Vӧman who live at 14 Greenwell Street in Dover. After a brief phone conversation with a servant of Maria and Jeanette, it is decided that the trio will visit them the following day at midday (per the request of Maria and Jeanette).

The trio arrive at the Vӧrman house and meet Maria and Jeanette in a room with a rather large painting that depicts the Ocean House prior to it almost burning down. Maria and Jeanette give the trio their great grandfather’s journal upon being asked for more information. As the trio are about to leave, Hemingway and Bedford notice that the painting has changed from when they first arrived; both are mentally disorientated. Bedford, Gumshoe and Hemingway decide a goodnight sleep before entering Ocean House hotel would be a good idea and allow them to adequately prepare supplies.

Piers

Coming Soon...

Another week rolls by and yet another successful session. We have hit 70 individuals having attended the club and have reached 32 official members (if your not yet a member ask a volunteer or member of staff for a membership form). The average number of people attending is steadily increasing, the average for the 2nd quarter of last year was 6 and our average for April and May this year currently stands at 23. We are reaching the limit of the space available, especially when the large room is not available, and Lyndsey and I are going to have to chat to see how best to accommodate the increasing numbers.


By Mette Aumala

Used under a Creative Commons License

Scheduled for later in the week we have a new guest blogger, Piers, who has written a game report for last Saturdays Call of Cthulhu game and a I have written post detailing the progress with my Mordant army.

The session on the 17th May represents the anniversary of our first Saturday afternoon session of the gaming club. I won't be with you for this momentous event (I'm going to be in North Wales) but I'm sure you'll all manage to have fun without me.

Looking further ahead, the coordinator for our WW1 commemorations has suggested we think about games with a Great War theme that we could add to the clubs growing list of games. I think Wings of War would fit nicely but anyone have any other suggestions? The American Libraries Association in partnership with the Australian Libraries and Information Association and Nordic Games Day* have just launched International Games Day 2014. I hope we can run something even bigger and better than last years event.

This years Summer Reading Challenge is the Mythical Maze and I'm looking at ways to add some gaming content into the activities that we run here. For those of you who don't know the Challenge is aimed at maintaining literacy skills amongst school children by preventing their reading dipping during the summer holidays. I hope to attend a training course in writing games for increasing information literacy in the middle of June and to bring some of those ideas from that course into both our Summer Reading Challenge activities and to making some new games for the club.

That's it for now. I'll see you all when I get back off my gallivanting (I'll have visited North Wales, London, Buckinghamshire and Salisbury by the time I'm back at the club).

* anyone think its a bit rubbish there is no UK presence in this list