The infinite playground : a player's guide to imagination
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references.

"Bernie De Koven was a prominent figure in the sixties and seventies, an idealist who believed that games, play and just plain fun could change the way people viewed the world. Oddly enough, his idealism didn't have the impact it should have until the advent of game studies in the late 20th century. Unlike Johan Huizinga's Homo Ludens (published in 1938) and Roger Callois's Man, Play and Games (published in 1961), both hugely influential in game studies theory today, Bernie De Koven was more practice-based, an advocate for play in a time of Lego and Sesame Street, when idealism ran rampant and play was viewed as a way of bringing people together. The Infinite Playground was written as the author was dying from cancer. With the help of a supportive group of editors and like-minded games scholars (including Celia Pearce, Eric Zimmerman, Jesper Juul, Frank Lantz, Katie Salen, Ian Bogost, et al.,) The Infinite Playground is a final testament to the importance that play can inhabit in our daily lives. There's no question that there's something of a Sesame Street vibe in much of Bernie's writing. As one of contributors, Sebastian Quack noted after his first experience with one of Bernie's workshops, it "looks like the (participants) are releasing their inner child." But The Infinite Playground, instead, is talking about releasing the inner adult. Alternative Reality Games, LARPs (Live Action Role-Playing games) have a direct correspondence with many of the goals Bernie De Koven expresses in this book: games and play as a means for improving the quality of human life or working towards the solution of social ills"--,Provided by publisher.