Play + Rules = Fun

I thought this was a fantastic talk by Tim Brown on the importance of play – not only that it gets the creative juices flowing, but that play has rules, and rules help play function…something that I think adults tend to forget.

It made me think of another talk I attended back at University by Eric Zimmerman, author of the book Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. The part that I remember most about his talk was that play is no fun without rules…rules restrict options, and restricted options offer a challenge, and overcoming challenge is a big part of having fun.

He had taken two members of the audience, and had them come up on stage. He had them play a game where they were to say a word – any word that popped into their head – each in turn. There was no challenge, and it wasn’t very interesting to watch. He then (if I remember correctly) added a rule that the word had to be a proper name – any name. They were a little more hesitant as they modified their game to use only names, but still had no trouble coming up with words to use. He then restricted it to names of the United States, and then they had to do them in alphabetical order. At this point, the participants had much more trouble thinking of what to say next, and it was far more interesting to watch – in addition, the audience was following along, coming up with their own answers in their heads, making the whole thing much more interactive for the audience.

Zimmerman’s example has stuck with me as proof positive that rules create challenge, and in the right environment and with the right rewards, challenge can be a lot of fun.