Agency in Game Creation VS Game Play

Game design has been referred to as an art, and it is for the designers, calling upon all their powers of imaginative and creative production. For the child user, however, game play is not an art, but more of a sport. What we're talking about here is the difference between the free-form activity of pretend play and soccer on the playground or in organized leagues. In the first, child-determined goals and constraints respond or in organized leagues. In the first, child-determined goals and constraints respond fluidly to the whim of individual or group. In the second, externally enforced rules and purposes remain largely unresponsive. What we're talking about, in terms of worldplay, is that, unlike personal invention, the exploration of imaginary worlds via computer game is a highly managed—and adult-mediated—affair.

Michele Root-Bernstein, Inventing Imaginary Worlds, From Childhood Play to Adult Creativity Across the Arts and Sciences (2014)

• game making
• gaming
• literacy