Dinamarca

Once while I was still in my twenties my partner in bridge made a stupid misplay. When I frowned she said that three of them were playing for fun and she would keep making the same stupid play until I understood that. From that day I understood the difference.— R603

The importance of the social context in which play occurs can have a strong influence on the general goal- orientedness of players. The degree of commitment to the pursuit of the game goals is subject to a variety of con- textual social influences that shape player behavior. As one player observes:

There is a clear axis here ranging from “decisive result” through to “experien- tial outcome.” And, as with many of the other axes, people will disagree about where exactly a particular game should be positioned — and, indeed some games’ positions depend entirely upon the context in which you are playing.

Carcassonne can be played extremely cut- throat, with players who know

exactly what tiles are available and how to mess things up. Or it can be played socially, with discussions about the best moves for other players. In one envi- ronment you play for victory. In another you play for the experience [R587].

This respondent highlights the way that the social context can shape the play of a specific game. Players may ruthlessly seek to push every advantage in a game or they may offer assistance to players and discuss potential moves openly. The style of play is not a product of the game’s rules but of the social environment in which it occurs. As Espen Aarseth notes, player understand- ings of games are often shaped by the social context in which they are first exposed to them:

The potential player, before becoming an actual player, must receive some instructions, either from the game itself, or from a guide or accompanying material. Thus, the player is created, by these instructions, and by his or her initial learning experience. In many cases, this experience is social, and the player learns from other, more experienced players [2007, p. 130].

Depending upon the social context, a game of Carcassonne can border on that of a cooperative game — with rules that explicitly encourage collab- oration with the active player — an observation that challenges the notion that the game is competitive. In a competitive sport such as football, this would be the equivalent of making helpful suggestions as to the best player for the opposing team to pass the ball to. As this respondent suggests, the decision of how helpful to be during this phase is largely dependent on the context of the game and the relationship with other players. In this response we begin to see how the goals of the rational player fluctuate depending upon the specific encounter in which play occurs. Notably, the social demands of an encounter may even override the rational pursuit of victory, shifting the emphasis from purely game- related considerations to those of the broader social fabric. As one respondent states, “My first priority is that everyone at the table is having fun” (R728).

In her studies of children’s social play, Linda Hughes describes the way in which the structure of the group forms a part of a gaming encounter:

The concern displayed here for how things are done (for “style”), and for modulation of the single- minded pursuit of the stated point of the game (“outs”) in light of principles basic to the social life of the group more gener- ally (like “friends”), is a dominant theme among these players, woven through- out all episodes of play [1988, p. 685].

The importance of social cohesion and shared enjoyment is a recurring theme in Hughes’ work. In observing girls’ play particularly, Hughes notes that the existence of a social matrix overlaying the play of a game meant that “players who played the game according to its rules, competing as individuals, were treated as though they were acting in a totally inappropriate and unaccept - able way” (1999, p. 101). While the influence of peer pressure and other social factors might not be so apparent in adult play as what Hughes finds with

children, the “social matrix” she describes is clearly present in these survey responses. A number of respondents identified a shared responsibility to main- tain the integrity of the social fabric during the game. For these players the unbridled pursuit of victory might be suitable in some situations, while in others an overly competitive approach would be deemed socially inappropri- ate:

Although I am usually playing to win the game, what is more important to me is that people want to continue playing the game with me. If I am being an overzealous jerk, I will soon find myself in a situation where nobody wants to play a game with me.... I don’t want people to not desire to play games with me regardless of whether the game is Chess, Apples to Apples, or Catan [R569].

Here it is apparent the degree to which a player must negotiate the norms of the specific social setting in which the game occurs. The decision to pursue game goals without reserve may be tempered by the knowledge that this level of competitiveness is unsuitable within a particular social context. While the majority of players attest to pursuing goals generally, when questioned as to when they might not do so, a wide variety of exceptional circumstances emerge.