5/17/2023 0 Comments The magic circle trailer![]() ![]() Huizinga, shown here desperately needing a hug However, the Magic Circle as a formal idea in game design and game studies goes back to a Dutch writer known as Johan Huizinga. On the one hand, the idea of the Magic Circle may seem obvious, and the idea that games are somewhat removed from everyday life is not a new one. To do so I am going to look at the history of this concept, some common misconceptions about the Magic Circle, and finally how designers can expand, contract and build the Magic Circle for their players. Today’s article is going to be an introduction to the Magic Circle as a game design tool. You may be a 32 year old Asian woman, but inside the Magic Circle you are an axe-wielding Orcish Warrior. In the real world you may simply be moving a few pieces of cardboard around, but in the Magic Circle you are actually building roads and a town. This concept describes the way that, when playing a game, things begin to take on a completely new meaning. This aspect of games – the ability to draw you into a different reality, with it’s own rules and structures – is known as the Magic Circle. Whether you are questing as a vampire cleric, becoming leader of the wasteland, or building your Mediterranean trading empire, one of the fundamental aspects of games is that they allow you to truly experience something that you would never get the chance to experience in real life. You can interact with the other people inside that world, make decisions and change it how you wish. Games can draw you into themselves in a way that no other medium can – instead of just looking into a world you can actually enter it. When I play a game, however, I feel completely different. I can look into these other worlds, but I can never enter them. When I watch a film, I know that nothing I do is going to affect the outcome – my world and the world of the movie are separate. I love getting lost in a great book, film or TV show, but no matter how much I enjoy watching I never really feel like I am a part of the world. ![]()
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