The document discusses the concept of the "magic circle" in games - the designated space and time where the rules of a game take effect. It notes that every game exists within a frame that separates it from normal life and defines the beginning and end of play. Within the magic circle, objects and actions take on special meanings defined by the game's rules. However, the boundaries between the magic circle and reality are not always clearly defined, and there can be examples of games leaking into real life and vice versa.

1. The Magic Circle

2. • How do we enter and exit games?
• How and where does play begin and end?
• What makes up the boundary of a game?
Magic Circle
Frames & Boundaries
Lusory Attitude
A Few Critical Terms

3. Every game exists within a frame – a
marked off time and space.
The frame is what communicates to
players that a game is being played
The Frame of a Game

4. Frames can be…
• physical
• psychological
• technological
• abstract/
conceptual
The Frame of a Game

5. 5

6. • The “idea of a special place in time and
space created by a game”
• The “space within which a game take place”
• The “alternate reality established by game”
• The space and time that marks off the
artificial world of a game
• The formalized boundary that circumscribes
the activity of play.
The Magic Circle

7. Why magical? What’s magical
about the space and time created
when we play a game?
Within the space of a game, special rules
obtain – and these rules create a special set
of meanings for the players
Things become significant when subject to
the rules and fiction of a game

8. Within the magic circle, special meanings accrue
and cluster around objects and behaviors. In
effect, a new reality is created, defined by the rules
of the game and inhabited by its players. Before a
game of Chutes and Ladders starts, it's just a
board, some plastic pieces, and a die. But once
the game begins, everything changes. Suddenly,
the materials represent something quite specific.
This plastic token is you. These rules tell you how
to roll the die and move. Suddenly, it matters very
much which plastic token reaches the end first.

9. Are frames and boundaries between “magic
circle of a game” and “ordinary world” always
clearly defined?
Can you think of examples where these
boundaries are confused? When games leak
into real life, or real life leaks into magical
world of games?
Discussion

10. Psychological attitude required to enter the
play of the game.
Playing a game is an act of “faith” and a kind
of social contract.
Useful term to describe the attitude required
of a player to enter into a game
Lusory attitude (Bernard Suits)