The following is an opinion piece by the author and may not reflect the views of Antlion Audio or its individual staff members.

As a kid I had a pretty substantial number of action figures (including an original Star Wars Luke Skywalker, which my mom made me get rid of and I've never forgiven her for). I have fond memories of playing with them on the floor of my bedroom.

I cry a little bit every time I look.

But the thing about playing with your action figures, despite there usually being a narrative, there isn't really a game. Games require rules, toys do not. However, there's a key word we use when discussing both games and toys: play. To me, play is the act of using our brains to create enjoyment out of an imagined scenario. You can play by yourself or with others in a shared scenario. What makes play work with others is everyone agreeing to the same ruleset: And once you do, you have a game. When I use the term play in the rest of this article, this is the type of play I am referring to.

Over the last few years I have seen a lot more play in games, and that’s what we’re talking about today.

What Inspired Me?

During the pandemic I really got into Blaseball. If you missed it, it was a baseball sim meets Cthulhu where you play a fan as opposed to a manager, team member, etc. Your job was to cheer on your virtual team and vote for changes to the roster, rules of the game, even the way the universe operated... only nothing was as it seemed. Sadly, Blaseball is gone now, but the impact it made on me and others remains.

Up until that point I never really understood the appeal of RP GTA Online groups, VR Chat, or similar. However, the ravenous fans of Blaseball were out there creating their own art, fan fiction, and even a real life rock band got me thinking: Maybe there's more to this than just make-believe.

Last week I stumbled into the deep unknown of Anarchy Chess: The Game thanks to this video (I highly recommend watching it). I was inspired to rethink what it meant to play a game.

Finally, all the pieces of the chess board fell into place. Despite spending most of my "me" time gaming, I was missing play in the most basic sense. 

I want to re-teach everyone I meet how to play again, because there’s good odds if you’re reading this you've probably forgotten how to play like you did when you were younger, but as you'd expect it only has a handful of rules.

Yes and…

In improv comedy there's really one rule (so I guess improv comedy is a game): never naysay / always yes and. For example if someone starts the improv scenario by greeting you as "Mike" you are not supposed to say "Sorry my name is Steve." Your job is to say "yes" to every prompt given to you. "Yes, Mike Tinytoes, nice to meet you, Fred Fat Fingers." And now they have to say "yes" their silly name.

This lesson is core to the idea of play. Anarchy Chess: The Game would not have worked if the creator said "no" to some crazy post that made it to the top.

B8 and B1 knights go on a date at space c5

It is up to the players AND the developers to work together to "yes and" as much as possible for play to be fun. The more you can do this, the more fun people have. Of course there are rules and limits. One person's fun should not come at the expense of another's. That's the core underlying agreement to make it all work. However, it's also important that players enter the space with the expectation that all outcomes are fun. Even if they're the outcome you didn't want.

Dare to Suck

It sounds dirtier than it is, but this is the second core concept of improv and performance in general. Dare to suck is our way of saying be bold enough to try things and fail. Sometimes you make a joke or suggest an idea that you think is good... and you just don't get a reaction. That's ok! Part of what makes play so enjoyable is the idea that everyone else there is trying things and failing too, which means you don't have to go into it fearing failure like you may have at work or school or home. 

Play can not last forever

For all intents and purposes, Blaseball lasted 24 seasons. Anarchy Chess: The Game lasted 71 days and 35 moves. The simple reality is you can't play forever. It is exhausting mentally and sometimes physically. As players and developers we have to be ready to let our play times end and find a new space. 

The end of Blaseball

It is one of the most challenging aspects of designing a game for play, knowing that you'll probably never design a system that can self-sustain creativity forever. It is a limit on designing a game around play that a game designed around only mechanics doesn't have. Regular chess will always be regular chess, there will probably be people playing it when the last humans finally depart this mortal coil. There will never be another move in Anarchy Chess: The Game... and that is ok.

Why it matters

At some point in our lives we become “adults” and the idea of play as we’re discussing here simply… vanishes. At least for most of us. I don’t think I realized how tragic that really is until recently. Play is at the heart and soul of pretty much all social animals that we study; Dogs, cats, even bees play! They don’t stop as they age, only humans do that. It’s not only tragic, it goes against our very nature.

Adult Language Warning: But also cute bees!

At work, school, home, you name it, we avoid failure. We say no to things we’re uncertain about because it is safer than saying yes. At play, however, you can embrace failure and say yes to even the most insane suggestions. It is incredibly liberating and most importantly: fun. You may need a VR avatar with strangers to feel safe and comfortable enough to try it or you may be ready to dive into play in real life.

All I can tell you for sure is when you seize an opportunity to play and follow the these simple rules, you’ll have a blast. I guarantee it.

The Rules of Play

Play has the following rules at a minimum that have to be followed by both players AND developers.

1) Do not create fun at the expense of others'.

2) "Yes and" every prompt.

3) Dare to suck.

4) Know that your play is finite in length and know when it has to end.

And that's really it. Everything else you add is going to be specific to that game you are playing. So with this in mind, get out there and really PLAY your next game. And if you're doing it online, be sure to sound good with an excellent microphone. 

What, you didn't think I'd get through a whole post without a little promo didja!?