The Caillois Argument

Caillois states:

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 I wholeheartedly disagree with. Even coming from an era where digital media was not even invented yet, his argument tries to bring up a point where an action with no tangible result is not worth doing since he considers it a waste of time. Such a mentality does not have to restrict itself to games to find it absurd, though to stay within the context of the topic we’ll keep games as an example.

From the very first time I picked up a controller I was enamoured by what video games have been offering me. You can start off by the practical skills you nurture as you play the plethora of different titles like keen observation of detail, problem solving, quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination. These can be further supplemented by the knowledge expressed from those same games, easily distinguishing what benefits or damages you along with tangential learning techniques; the latter in particular made me stand out as a youth as I have acquired an avid interest in educating myself just because of things shown or referenced within a game. Quite an off-shoot from the typical idea that games cause children to lower their grades, isn’t it?

Last but not least there are the experiences that come when you play each and every one of these games. From the biggest, derivative titles to the smaller, simpler ones, games have proven to have an effect towards players. Experiences such as going through personal loss, acts of revenge, saving a nation, surviving through a Hellish environment and even reaching the higher levels of a puzzle are things a player will keep remembering and cherish. Could this man really claim that a gambler would not remember all the excitement they had on the first win, or going so high up and suddenly lose it all by a small margin? Does all this really mean nothing? I do not think so.

The reason I want to become a game designer to begin with is to embrace the idea of sharing knowledge and experience with players that play my games. Those special and unique feelings I go through as I play my favourite titles should be glorified, not discarded. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.