ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that psychological analysis has lagged far behind reality. The world knows that adults play and has known so for a long time. Adult games have become big business. Some sports that have attracted a popular following have shown similar trends. But the way in which adults have come to play many sports has both its ironies and its dark side, enough to make one wonder if we don't play a little too seriously. Though many fantasy gamers are young, there are reckoned to be some adults who play such games regularly–and provide the money. Adult toys seem to me far odder–not quite designed to be played with and hardly ever, in fact, played with. As sports, holidays, consumer toys and personal growth all suggest, adults are clamouring to play more. The chapter outlines that while people have learned to play more at work, some kinds of adult play are being 'worked at' too much.
