Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
however, the magic circle simply refers to the boundary that divides ideas and
activities that are meaningful in the game from those that are meaningful in
the real world. In other words, it defines the boundary between reality and
make-believe.
THE MAGIC CIRCLE
Huizinga did not use the term
magic circle
as a generic name for the concept. His text
actually refers to the
play-ground
, or a
physical
space for play, of which he considers the
tennis court, the court of law, the stage, the magic circle (a sacred outdoor space for wor-
ship in “primitive” religions), the temple, and many others to be examples. However,
theoreticians of play have since adopted the term
magic circle
to refer to the
mental
uni-
verse established when a player pretends. That is the sense that this topic uses.
Players can even pretend things in the magic circle that are impossible in the real
world (for example, “Let's pretend that I'm moving at the speed of light.”).
Figure 1.1
illustrates the magic circle.
FIGURE 1.1
The magic circle, sepa-
rating the real world
from the pretended
reality
REAL WORLD
CONCEPTS,
SITUATIONS,
AND EVENTS
GAME CONCEPTS,
SITUATIONS, AND
EVENTS
THE MAGIC CIRCLE
THE REAL WORLD
The definition of a game used the term
pretended reality
rather than
magic circle
because the former is self-explanatory and the latter is not. However, from now
on, we'll refer to the magic circle because it is the more widely accepted term.
NOTE
Within the
magic circle, the play-
ers agree to attach a
temporary, artificial
significance to situa-
tions and events in the
game. The magic circle
comes into existence
when the players join
the game—in effect,
when they agree to
abide by the rules. It
disappears again when
they abandon the game
or the game ends.
In single-player games, the player establishes the magic circle simply by choosing to
play. In multiplayer games, players agree upon a convention, which in turn establishes
the magic circle. In other words, they all pretend together, and more important, they
all agree to pretend the same things; that is, to accept the same rules. Although the
pretended reality can seem very real to a deeply immersed player, it is still only a
convention and can be renounced by the player refusing to play.
At first glance, you might not think much pretending is involved in a physical
game like soccer. After all, the players aren't pretending to be someone else, and
their actions are real-world actions. Even so, the players assign artificial significance
to the situations and events in the game, and this is an act of pretending.
Figure 1.2
illustrates the idea. In the real world, kicking a ball into a net is meaningless, but
