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CHAPTER THREE
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PLAY IS THE THING
Playing with Others
Far more amorphous than physical play, but equally compelling, social play (talking,
lying, accusing, betting, bluffing, bidding, joking, gossiping, comparing, copying,
repeating, guessing, swarming) offers many activities which provide the roots for
games. Lying, guessing and accusing form the basis for social games like Mafia and
Werewolf . Card games like poker are as much about reading the tells of other players
and calling their bluffs as the probability of building the right sets.
As Sutton-Smith points out in Ambiguity of Play , social play can include simple
behavior