@article{nokey,

title = {Parties as Playful Experiences: Why Game Studies Should Study Partying},

author = {Leland Masek and Jaakko Stenros},

url = {https://doi.org/10.7557/23.7562},

doi = {10.7557/23.7562},

issn = {1866-6124},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-12-31},

journal = {ELUDAMOS},

volume = {15},

issue = {1},

abstract = {Partying is a widespread, understudied, and playful phenomena. Game Studies has seen great value from defining important concepts related to games since its inception. Foundational play and game scholars urged for a need to analyze parties and celebrations as a form of playfulness, yet there is little empirical Game Studies work enabling a deeper understanding of partying. Partying bears striking resemblances to games: inefficient use of resources, arbitrary rules, cultural group formation, and ongoing moral panics. There are also practical overlaps: games occur at parties and digital party games are quite popular. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of parties by analyzing 33 semi-structured interviews where individuals from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds had highly playful experiences at parties. A new theoretical conception of partying as a form of playfulness is proposed as a “phenomenon that creates an experience of social connection in a group mediated through a shared engagement-prioritizing activity”. This work concludes with a call for party studies to become a sub-field in game studies.},

keywords = {Game studies, Party Culture, Playful behavior, Playfulness},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}