In pretend play, a space becomes a world, a person becomes a character, and actions gain significance within a shared fiction.

“As if” refers to the ability to behave as though something were real, even when it is imagined. In play, pretending allows people to create shared worlds, take on roles, and interact within a fictional frame. It depends on others recognising and sustaining the same imagined reality, making it a fundamentally social process. In pretend play, acting “as if” transforms meaning. Through this shared agreement, people create worlds, take on roles, and explore ways of thinking and relating beyond everyday reality.

Magic Circle: The phenomenon behind the emergence of play.

In play, objects acquire new meanings, actions are driven by mental representations, and imaginary roles are separated from ordinary reality. In an instant, a cardboard box can become a starship traversing the galaxy in search of new land; the object becomes a pivot for the emergence of play. Although people might seem free when playing, their actions are defined by rules. While this might appear paradoxical, it is the player's willingness and awareness of entering the make-believe that distinguishes play from ordinary reality. Play relies on a shared recognition of its imaginary nature, and rules create a structured freedom to explore ideas and behaviours. That is, players know they are not truly starship pilots; this awareness is what enables reflection, experimentation, and ideation.

Mediated worlds

Mediations, both direct and indirect, influence how we play; they create, shape, and limit the ways players can express change in play. The rules, narratives and systems are the most common forms of mediations in play; however, there are different layers of mediations, which I synthesised in four overarching categories:

Play lives in the imaginary but is bounded by the physical world. For example, if a group is role-playing as birds, gravity prevents players from actually flying. But they can agree that flapping arms signify flight, creating a new shared mediation. The ordinary and singular boundaries can be suspended (to different degrees), but never entirely. Ludwig Wittgenstein introduced the idea of language games, arguing that the meaning of words is not inherent but defined by specific social contexts and uses. In this way, Language defines the boundaries of what we can conceive and experience.

Different players sharing similar ordinary worlds can facilitate social cohesion, for instance, if all players speak the same language. The more people share a particular belief, the more established and hegemonic it becomes, sometimes becoming systematic over time, such as money, private property, or racism. The difference between the imaginary and the ordinary is in the meaning: the noun belief (an idea or principle accepted as true) and the verb believe (to accept something as true or real). To believe is to engage with uncertainty; to hold a belief is to anchor to certainty. Realities can be ambiguous, have adverse outcomes, or change over time; myths are examples of make-belief (an idea or principle accepted as true) that eventually fall into disbelief (inability or refusal to accept something as true). Nevertheless, myths survive in the make-believe through literature and other creative forms.

Reality itself emerges from negotiated simulations rather than objective truths. The imaginary is not a temporary departure from the ordinary but a space in which the meaning of reality is reconstituted; in this way, play becomes a symbolic gesture toward an underlying truth. It is by holding true to what is not true that we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others. Playfulness is best understood not by what it is or why it happens, but by how we play. Ultimately, the power of play lies in the simple yet profound ability to believe.

Tiz Creel of Living Things Studio ©2024

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Keep it playful.