Caillois’s terminology

Roger Caillois is the author of Man, Play and Games which is an influential book on the sociology or play and games. Callois sees many of the structures in society as elaborate forms of games and many behaviours as forms of play. there are four forms and two types of play; The two types of play are Paidea and Ludus.

Paidea:
Paidea means to play for 'pleasure'. Pleasure can be achieved through playing any game that the player likes. The game could be, for example, chess and the player could gain pleasure through playing and winning. Another example of a game that provides pleasure for the player is a video game such as a first person shooter like call of duty. Pleasure can be achieved by playing virtually any game available but the players opinion of the game can affect whether the game is pleasurable or not. A chess player may not find playing a video game pleasurable and vice versa.

Ludus:
Ludus games are more constrained by rules and provide the players with a clear outcome such as a winner and a looser. An example of a Ludus game would be chess as each piece has its set roles e.g. how many spaces it can move and in which direction. Chess also provides a clear winner and looser at the end of each game.

These are the four types of play;

Agon:
A game that contains Agon means that there is competition between two or more players to become the winner or two teams fighting to be the winners. Chess is a good example of competitive play as it involves two players going head-to-head to win using cunning and strategy to outwit their opponent. Another example of competitive play in games that involve team play would be the video game call of duty as it involves skill to win the game and beat the opposing team.

Alea:
Alea games are games of chance or randomness. Alea games are slot machines and other similar systems in which chance is a major element. Another example of a chance game is snakes and ladders which uses a dice roll to determine how many spaces a player moves closer to the goal.

Ilinx:
Ilinx games are those which create a temporary disruption of perception, as with vertigo, dizziness, or disorienting changes in direction of movement. An example of a game that uses Ilinx is Dead Space, a third person horror, Sci-Fi shooter. a part that induces vertigo or a change of reality is when the player gets grabbed by a giant tentacle or is walking on the walls and ceiling in zero gravity.

Mimicry:
Mimicry is simulation, make believe or role-play. A good example of this is the MMORPG World Of Warcraft. I feel that mimicry applies well to this game as all the the mentioned elements are part of the game. Players can choose to role-play the characters in the game and the world provides a simulated environment for the player.

I found Caillois' terms very helpful and will use them/apply them to my later work.