ABSTRACT
This chapter assembles a theoretical framework for the study of play in public by reviewing the literature of three different academic fields: game studies, design and affordance studies, and spatial studies. With regard to game studies, this chapter focuses on notions related to situated gaming by drawing on the concept of the magic circle and interactivity, while works reviewed in design studies touch on the numerous applications of the concept of affordances (from environmental to social), as well as on the framework of actor-network theory. The chapter also discusses significant works on the notions of structure, rhythm, and representation of space from different academic traditions.
Finally, the chapter introduces the concept of ludo-egregore as a methodological tool for analyzing data obtained from observations of instances of public play, specifically play in videogame arcade venues and game centres. Taking inspiration from Pierre Mabille and the situationists’ repurposing of the idea of egregore, the concept proposes to look at play in public as governed by the succession and superposition of discrete, plural, and multilayered ephemeral moments.
