Critical Play by Flanagan

          This document serves a an introduction to a book published by Mary Flanagan that explores play as an art form and how it relates to political, cultural, and social ideologies. Flanagan defines play as “an activity that is fun, voluntary, intrinsically motivated, incorporates free choices/free will, offers escape, and is fundamentally exciting. She also quotes Anthropologist Brian Sutton-Smith’ four categories of play: play as learning, play as power, play as fantasy, and play as self. Flanagan discusses many different forms of play such as computer games, board games, language games, and activist games. She argues that play is essential to the human experience and that it shapes and is shapes by political, cultural, and social shift. 

          She believes that different forms of play can be considered artistic expression due to underlying messages being expressed by their creators and participants. In addition she talks about how play can be essential in creating communities of people that can create their own culture. For example, video gamers have a very defined competitive and cooperative community. Members of gaming communities can form close social ties that allow them to cooperate and compete with other social groups. However as a whole gamer's share a competitive culture that involves playing games that can have political, cultural, and social messages within them. She argues that board games can do this as well by using monopoly as an example. Monopoly was designed to showcase the negatives of capitalism and specifically landlords and tax policies.

           In addition Flanagan discusses the social issues that can arises within play communities such as the scarcity of women in video games and how it can negatively affect the depiction of females in video games. I found this article very interesting because as an avid gamer I have always considered video games and other forms of play as art. The section about communities was also very relatable because I have made real friends online that are as close to me as the friends I surround myself with.