Wonderful article! I think you definitely see more ritual at competitive events. At Magic tournaments there's definitely a setup ritual of placing down a play mat, shuffling the deck, allowing opponent to cut. (Some card games also have a traditional shuffle-and-cut that feels quite ritualized, at least in certain groups.) Chess tournaments involve looking up the pairing of the next game, and for games where white/black isn't predetermined, one player taking a pawn of each color in each hand and the other player choosing a hand. A lot of professional athletes have their own superstitions and personal rituals to give them good luck, that drives their pre-game behavior.
But yeah, game designers can lean much more into this. As soon as I saw the title of the article I immediately thought of The Mind and how brilliant that hands thing is, and was not disappointed to see that mentioned at the end. Certainly any games with a theme of rituals or cults (lookin' at every Lovecraft/Elder Horror-themed game EVER) should do more with this than they do.
Also thinking of this in the context of video games. Most games do have a clear delineation of the Magic Circle in the form of things like loading screens, but more games could certainly use that loading time to provide a display that puts the player in a different frame of mind... hmm.
I've long suspected that it's the 'sleep' stage ritual at the start of hidden role games like Secret Hitler and the various versions of Werewolf that are a key part of those games' appeal.
Dominion requires you to select the cards, set up the table with all the piles of cards. Yet it does not feel as busywork, but really part of the game, setting it up. Shuffling a deck of cards got a very ritualistic feel for me (in other games as well, including superstitions or downright houserules on how (much) you should shuffle when playing a trick taking game).
In Las Vegas (Alea, Rudiger Dorn), my wife and I had a ritual to wrap up the experience: reveal our collected money card by card, highest value to lowest and keep track of the net difference. Feels more climactic, but also a nice way to end the game play
When running a weekly RPG, I liked to start with a "Previously, on the adventures of ____", then summarize last week's session, with interjections by the players for any details they thought were important. This got everyone in the mindset, and helped anyone who missed a session.
I was wondering if you have any thoughts on "GL HF!" (Good luck, have fun!) and "GG" (Good game) at the start and end of competitive games?
At least back when I played DotA2 there was not a single match without every player typing those (or minor variations / puns on them). In addition to the transition into and out of the magic circle, I think it also helps, or at least aims, to keep players on a more positive attitude. I wonder if this was introduced and made popular by players fully on the own. If yes that would be very impressive at the audience size of those games.
A fact I'm confused about - wasn't the Magic Circle first proposed in Huizinga's Homo Ludens? He spoke extensively there on the interaction of games and culture.
Additionally, if you're interested in transitional rituals in Judiasm, I'd definitely recommend reading Yoram Bilu's paper on transitional rituals in the ultra orthodox community. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3651935
Super interesting stuff, in general the ritual aspects of gaming touch on a lot of different aspects of our lives and it's an interesting lens to view design though.
Huizinga uses the phrase 'Magic Circle' in Homo Ludens, but if you read the references it really isn't in the same sense as what Zimmerman does later.
Here's Huizinga's main use of the term. You'll note that he doesn't differentiate "magic circle" from other terms.
"The arena, the card-table, the magic circle, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc., are all in form and function play-grounds, i.e. forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart."
Zimmerman goes into the genesis of the idea in this article:
Sure thing! And thanks for the clarification - actually just taking a first course in games and media (as part of a more general BA), and from what it seems our coursework very much over-emphasized Huizinga's use of the Magic Circle. Just goes to show you should always check your primary sources 🙃😅
One of the things that I think really helps is my neoprene game mat. The objects and actions on that mat exist in the magic circle and once the mat is put away, the magic goes with it. Any grudges or back stabbing or cruelty gets rolled up and put into the tube and friends are friends again!
Wonderful article! I think you definitely see more ritual at competitive events. At Magic tournaments there's definitely a setup ritual of placing down a play mat, shuffling the deck, allowing opponent to cut. (Some card games also have a traditional shuffle-and-cut that feels quite ritualized, at least in certain groups.) Chess tournaments involve looking up the pairing of the next game, and for games where white/black isn't predetermined, one player taking a pawn of each color in each hand and the other player choosing a hand. A lot of professional athletes have their own superstitions and personal rituals to give them good luck, that drives their pre-game behavior.
But yeah, game designers can lean much more into this. As soon as I saw the title of the article I immediately thought of The Mind and how brilliant that hands thing is, and was not disappointed to see that mentioned at the end. Certainly any games with a theme of rituals or cults (lookin' at every Lovecraft/Elder Horror-themed game EVER) should do more with this than they do.
Also thinking of this in the context of video games. Most games do have a clear delineation of the Magic Circle in the form of things like loading screens, but more games could certainly use that loading time to provide a display that puts the player in a different frame of mind... hmm.
The intros and title screens for "Super Smash Bros" are the first thing I thought of for games that get you in the right mindset to play.
I've long suspected that it's the 'sleep' stage ritual at the start of hidden role games like Secret Hitler and the various versions of Werewolf that are a key part of those games' appeal.
This is a great example! Having all the players close their eyes at the start definitely puts everyone into a different place.
The ritual is palpable during Avalon's sleep stage. "Merlin open your eyes." *Chills*
Dominion requires you to select the cards, set up the table with all the piles of cards. Yet it does not feel as busywork, but really part of the game, setting it up. Shuffling a deck of cards got a very ritualistic feel for me (in other games as well, including superstitions or downright houserules on how (much) you should shuffle when playing a trick taking game).
In Las Vegas (Alea, Rudiger Dorn), my wife and I had a ritual to wrap up the experience: reveal our collected money card by card, highest value to lowest and keep track of the net difference. Feels more climactic, but also a nice way to end the game play
Certain game setups do have a rhythmic meditative feel to them, and can act as that transition buffer. Good point!
When running a weekly RPG, I liked to start with a "Previously, on the adventures of ____", then summarize last week's session, with interjections by the players for any details they thought were important. This got everyone in the mindset, and helped anyone who missed a session.
Great article!
I was wondering if you have any thoughts on "GL HF!" (Good luck, have fun!) and "GG" (Good game) at the start and end of competitive games?
At least back when I played DotA2 there was not a single match without every player typing those (or minor variations / puns on them). In addition to the transition into and out of the magic circle, I think it also helps, or at least aims, to keep players on a more positive attitude. I wonder if this was introduced and made popular by players fully on the own. If yes that would be very impressive at the audience size of those games.
A fact I'm confused about - wasn't the Magic Circle first proposed in Huizinga's Homo Ludens? He spoke extensively there on the interaction of games and culture.
Additionally, if you're interested in transitional rituals in Judiasm, I'd definitely recommend reading Yoram Bilu's paper on transitional rituals in the ultra orthodox community. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3651935
Super interesting stuff, in general the ritual aspects of gaming touch on a lot of different aspects of our lives and it's an interesting lens to view design though.
Huizinga uses the phrase 'Magic Circle' in Homo Ludens, but if you read the references it really isn't in the same sense as what Zimmerman does later.
Here's Huizinga's main use of the term. You'll note that he doesn't differentiate "magic circle" from other terms.
"The arena, the card-table, the magic circle, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc., are all in form and function play-grounds, i.e. forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart."
Zimmerman goes into the genesis of the idea in this article:
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/jerked-around-by-the-magic-circle---clearing-the-air-ten-years-later
And thanks for the article link! I will definitely check that out.
Sure thing! And thanks for the clarification - actually just taking a first course in games and media (as part of a more general BA), and from what it seems our coursework very much over-emphasized Huizinga's use of the Magic Circle. Just goes to show you should always check your primary sources 🙃😅
One of the things that I think really helps is my neoprene game mat. The objects and actions on that mat exist in the magic circle and once the mat is put away, the magic goes with it. Any grudges or back stabbing or cruelty gets rolled up and put into the tube and friends are friends again!
Creating a strong magic circle in cutthroat games like Diplomacy is particularly important, and this sounds like a great way to do that.