https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Caillois
a French intellectual whose idiosyncratic work brought together literary criticism, sociology, ludologyand philosophy by focusing on diverse subjects such as games and play as well as the sacred
Game studies, also known as ludology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_studies
Caillois distinguished four categories of games:
- Agon, or competition.[7] It's the form of play in which a specific set of skills is put to the test among players (strength, intelligence, memory). The winner is who proves to have mastery of said skill through the game, for example a quiz game is a competition of intelligence, the winner proves that it's more intelligent than the other players. E.g. chess.
- Alea, or chance,[7] the opposite of Agon, Caillois describes Alea as "the resignation of will, an abandonment to destiny." If Agon used the skills of players to determine a victor Alea leaves that to luck, an external agent decides who the victor is. E.g. playing a slot machine.
- Mimesis, or mimicry,[7] or role playing Caillois defines it as "When the individual plays to believe, to make himself or others believe that he is different from himself." E.g. playing an online role-playing game.
- Ilinx, which Caillois describes as "voluptuous panic"[7] in the sense of altering perception by experiencing a strong emotion (panic, fear, ecstasy) the stronger the emotion is, the stronger the sense of excitement and fun becomes. E.g. bungee jumping or Caillois's example of children spinning in a circle until they become dizzy.[7]
Caillois also described a dualistic polarity within which the four categories of games can be variously located:
- Paidia or uncontrolled fantasy, spontaneous play through improvisation, the rules of which are created during playing time. E.g. concerts and festivals.
- Ludus which requires effort, patience, skill, or ingenuity, the rules are set from the beginning and the game was designed before playing time. E.g. the Chinese game of Go.
