Play

It's hard to resist a book that begins with an anecdote involving the joyous abandon of a yellow lab and well nigh impossible to resist one that continues with a tale of play dates between a dog and a starving polar bear that doesn't end with carnage. Stuart Brown is a fine storyteller and fortunately for readers, he has a meaningful story to tell about the significance of play in human development. He persuasively argues that play is hardwired into our brains and without it we wouldn't be able to adapt, learn and grow.

I'm only halfway through the book, but I already feel that my hunger for ideas has been satisfied. In addition to the stores about puppies, chimps and sea squirts, I appreciate his ability to illuminate different aspects of play. I'm familiar with the concept of homo ludens and realize that play has been written about many times before but Play is helping me see play in a different light. For instance, he emphasizes that play is a state of mind and goes on to discuss a playful attitude as being an ironic one. If we treat an idea, a person or an event ironically, we have space to bend, twist and change it/him/her.

One of the reasons why I think Brown's work stands out for me is that he doesn't discuss play in a rigid way. He sees play as a fluid concept, a state of mind rather than event. He describes 8 play profiles to explain why different people gravitate towards different types of play: The Joker, The Kinesthete, The Explorer, The Collector, The Director, The Competitor, The Artist/Creator, The Storyteller.

I will keep his Storyteller profile in mind as I begin to make my story game . . . .