Students in Dr. Nicole Pfannenstiel’s summer Games and Writing class crafted blog posts exploring play theory. Over the next several weeks, we will share their theory posts in this space to offer a variety of perspectives on play, games, and writing, written by current graduate students in the MA and M.Ed. English programs.
Games Analysis of Twilight Imperium
By John Leininger
Games are everywhere, in every culture. Everyone has played one at least once. But why do humans play games? I believe the answer lies with the control a player feels while playing them. Today, I will explore the world of Twilight Imperium, a space-conquest board game, to unveil this control and its appeal.
In Twilight Imperium, a player takes control of an intergalactic civilization and attempts to guide their people to dominance in a hostile universe. Gameplay can take anywhere from 10-24 hours, incorporates up to eight players, and involves strategy ranging from diplomacy to resource management, to technology research, to battle tactics. Each civilization has unique abilities and technology, fitting many play styles. It is one of my favorite games.
Why, you might ask, would somebody give up so much of their life to learn and play such a complicated game? I think Miguel Sicart has at least part of the answer: play is “appropriative” (11). This means, Sicart claims, that play takes over, or appropriates, its context, applying new meaning and purpose based on the player’s imagination. The player has control of the situation. Whether a person prefers a small card game, or a 24-hour intergalactic war, is simply a matter of scale; how much control do you want? Let’s walk through a Twilight Imperium day, starting with the preparation. Many hours lie ahead, similar to other hours I have experienced in my life, but these hours are special, because I’m not going to be on this planet. As I set up, that regular kitchen table where taxes were filed a week before suddenly transforms into a universe – a universe where I am one of the most powerful creatures alive. Chairs become spacecraft, the plastic game pieces become armies, and the house ceases to be a mortgage and becomes a headquarters. And it doesn’t end there. Even my mind gets a new purpose. Instead of just being my mind, mulling over tonight’s chores or tomorrow’s work dilemmas, it is now a civilization, and every decision I make, I make as the millions who populate that kitchen table universe. I’m not here anymore. I’m out there. I’m in control, and I enjoy it, even if every decision I make is an utter catastrophe – I also have the control of cleaning up that universe and returning it to a table, without any consequence. I am playing.
Some might say that analyzing a game this way ruins it, stops the fun. Maybe. I hope not. I do know though, that analysis like this is what being a graduate student means. Gone are the days of memorizing facts and remembering dates. Being a graduate student means learning a theory, like the appropriative nature of play, and looking for it in the world, finding examples or contradictions, and talking about them, like in a blog. It means actively engaging with ideas, and I will certainly think about this one the next time I ‘play’ Twilight Imperium.
Works Cited
Sicart, Miguel. Play Matters. The MIT Press, 2014. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=a50c4849-f645-37a7-a167-9db2a0592830.