Book Review: Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture

I have been interested in games, gaming, and gamification for both personal enjoyment and academic reasons. Repeatedly, I have seen references to Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture by Johan Huizinga. It is a foundational study on play, which is foundational to playing games. I wasn’t prepared for such a heavy read. But it was well worth it.

Huizinga wrote Homo Ludens in 1944 but it was published in English in 1949. The world was freshly out of World War II. It must have been a relief to think about playing once again. The version of the book I have is 220 pages spread across twelve chapters. The chapters include

• Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon
• The Play-Concept as Expressed in Language
• Play and Contest as Civilizing Functions
• Play and the Law
• Play and War
• Playing and Knowing
• Play and Poetry
• The Elements of Mythopoesis
• Play-Forms in Philosophy
• Play-Forms in Art
• Western Civilization Sub Specie Ludi
• The Play-Element in Contemporary Civilization

The first thing I must say about Homo Ludens is that it is definitely an academic text. As I have noted many times, because it was written over 50 years ago, the language used is much more complex than what I am used to seeing now. The book is filled with explanatory footnotes. As I was marking up my copy of the book, I also found myself circling a number of words that I was not familiar with.

As Huizinga worked to define play and its usage throughout history, he regularly referenced other languages such as German, Dutch, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Greek, and Latin. This naturally added to the complexity of the text. I have to be honest, there were parts where I could not keep up.

Early on in Homo Ludens, Huizinga set his case that play is part of the essence of man. Throughout the book, he demonstrated his case. There are many reasons why we play but we also play for no reason other than just to play.

Huizinga listed some important characteristics regarding to play:

• All play is a voluntary activity.
• Play is not real life. It is a suspension of real-life to one that is imaginary.
• Play is limited. It has limits of time and space.
• There is a sense of order.
• There is tension to play in that there is a goal to achieve.
• All play has rules.

“Summing up the formal characteristics of play we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside “ordinary” life as being “not serious”, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings which tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress their difference from the common world by disguise or other means.” (p. 13).

Naturally, Huizinga elaborated on each of the characteristics.

Let me share some examples that Huizinga highlighted in Homo Ludens. Huizinga began by pointing out that the concept of play is used throughout not only our language but also countless other languages. He looked at the concept of play as used by the ancient Greeks and Romans throughout the modern world. For many of the languages, a “play” suffix was used to modify the word thus emphasizing the play aspect of the word.

Play can be a solo activity or more than likely and contest between teams. Play does not necessarily have to be a game. It can also be a song, dance, a puzzle, or some other activity of enjoyment. When it comes to contests, winning is an important element.

Play is also defined by a space. For example, a playground is a specific place to play. When playing hide and seek, boundaries were first established. A puzzle has specific dimensions. Baseball is played on one type of field whereas soccer is played on a different type of pitch. Boxing has a ring, swimming has a pool, and athletics has a track and field.

We play for something. Typically, we play for bragging rights but play can be for a prize such as a medal or a trophy.

One of the play ceremonies that I thought was fascinating was the potlatch. According to the Oxford dictionary, a potlatch is “an opulent ceremonial feast at which possessions are given away or destroyed to display wealth or enhance prestige.” The chieftain would alternate events as a way to outdo each other.

Play can be between private individuals, teams, communities, and even nations. Play is also communal in that individuals will support teams and celebrate in the wins and loses.

Huizinga dedicated one chapter to play and the law. While law is a serious matter, it is based in play. There are participants. One conducts law in a defined space. The judge dresses up. It is a contest between two parties. There are rules. One side wins while the other side loses.

He also presented a case of how war has elements of play. At the highest level, war can be play; however, for the immediate participants, I am quite confident they do not consider it play. Nonetheless, war is between more than one participant. There are “rules”. One side is a victor. There is a defined space for conducting conflict.

Huizinga shared much more in Homo Ludens. While it was fascinating, it was an exhausting book to read. It is an academic book for those looking for a scholarly treatise on the concept of play. I am glad I took the time to read it.

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