Exploring play as the nexus of games and playfulness

In this paper we provide an original theoretical framework for conceptualising the relationship between play, games, and playfulness. This framework is intended to support in understanding the different potential benefits and drawbacks of the use of games and playful approaches in universities. To evidence its significance across the sector, we apply the framework to seven different forms of play pedagogy used in Higher Education. First, we define and differentiate between games as problem-solving systems and playfulness as an engagement philosophy. We highlight the advantages of games as experiential learning environments and as intrinsically engaging tools, and the benefits of playfulness for promoting lusory attitudes within ludic communities. We argue that play – encompassing both an activity form and state of mind – can be conceived as the nexus of games and playfulness, bringing the affordances of both as well as additional synergistic benefits relating to the normalisation of failure. Second, we present a taxonomy of seven forms of playful learning in higher education that emerged from a large-scale literature review of the use of play in higher education over the past fifty years. These are: roleplay, simulations, traditional play, play worlds, ludification, playmaking, and alternate realities. This taxonomy is then tested against the literature base to provide a suite of examples of different ways in which playful learning encompass games and playfulness. We conclude by discussing the limitations and potential uses of this approach when applied to the practice of play as a pedagogy.