Why do people play games?

"By now you've all read Csikszentmihalyi's essay on 'flow, pleasure and enjoyment' (Home Page > Survival Kit > Initial Tasks...). We know people like to have fun and enjoy themselves. We can assume that there's a certain therapeutic element in the distraction of games, especially with demanding work, study, family, social and other busy schedules. We know that children learn valuable social skills through game play, and that adults like to relax in a number of structured ways through games.

In the very first (conjecturable) contexts in which games first emerged - think back to the earliest forms of human social organisation and communication, of simple village life, hunter-gatherers - daily life would have been just as demanding a mix of 'work-family balance', and possibly more stressful than we have to deal with today (think large carnivors and no chain link fencing).

Yet games emerged despite these circumstances. How? What for? With what implications into the future of civilisation and the human psyche?

This is your opportunity to relate your own game-play preferences to the bigger question of "why do we play?"

A nice easy discussion topic to start us off...."

For me personally, it's an escape. It is for a lot of people. I don't always want to be me, sometimes I want to be someone else.

Recently Blizzard Entertainment added a feature called "Real ID" which lets you keep friends list across World of Warcraft and other Battle.net games like Starcraft 2. It uses your real name and tells people what character/server/game you are playing. Especially in the case of WoW it's handy for keeping track of friends that have a lot of characters they play. However it can be a bit of a joykill for people that play on the Roleplay servers and really want to immerse themselves in fantasy. At this point in time there is no invisible mode for Real ID. So friends you've approved will always see what you're doing and be able to message you.

The same immersion joykill problem is occuring in a lot of games. Xbox Live, Playstation Network and Steam all connect you with friends and enable you to chat even when you're playing a single player game. With mobile phones and the internet, there's this pressure to always be available these days. I'm made to feel guilty for wanting to spend a whole day playing a game in peace and quiet. If you don't reply to messages via your computer, console or phone within a certain amount of time they get annoyed with you. Sometimes I just don't want to talk to anyone.


I think the "escape" is kind of being killed by social networking these days.

But in general, playing a game is something that keeps you occupied and can be exciting as you chase the thrill of winning. While you may take the game seriously it's still a "safe" way to challenge yourself or your mind.. if you "die" in game it's not going to cause you any real physical harm.