Play in a “Serious” Environment

Snapinsta app 425806548 270623479239954 551568096629788433 n 1080 Play in a 8220 Serious 8221 Environment

Take the Ludic Spirit Player Type Quiz

Play is essential for development. There is a wealth of information about this especially for childhood development.

  1. Cognitive Development: Play contributes to the cognitive well-being of children and youth. It stimulates their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength¹.
  2. Physical Development: Active play is crucial for physical development and health. It helps children build strong bones and muscles, control their body, and maintain a healthy weight¹.
  3. Social and Emotional Development: Play is an opportunity to promote the social-emotional well-being of children and youth. It allows children to interact with the world around them, helping them to build new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges².
  4. Language and Self-regulation Skills: Play with parents and peers is a singular opportunity to promote language and self-regulation skills that build executive function and a prosocial brain².

(1) The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and ….
(2) The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young ….

Serious Play

The issue is, that the word “Play” doesn’t tend to go down well in a “serious” environment – such as work.

I recently found myself feeling like I needed to justify my use of the word play when speaking with a client. I said something like “Once we have finished, you can go and play with this yourself” Read More ...

The Ludic Spirit Player Type Quiz

My ludic player type banner The Ludic Spirit Player Type Quiz

So here I am again. Another player type categorisation another quiz 🙂

The Ludic Player Type Quiz

It’s a simple 10-question quiz and at the end of it you will be given one or more player types and a nice little image like this

Just as a reminder, the player types are

  • Adventurer: These individuals embody curiosity and a thirst for discovery. They find excitement in pushing boundaries and uncovering what lies beyond. Their fearless exploration enriches their lives with new experiences and perspectives.
  • Creator: Creators thrive on imagination and the act of making. Whether it’s building worlds, crafting stories, or expressing themselves through art, they find fulfillment in bringing new creations to life. Their creativity fuels the imaginations of others and inspires awe and wonder.
  • Actor: Actors breathe life into the creations of others, infusing them with personality and depth. Through role-play and imaginative storytelling, they immerse themselves in new worlds and experiences, enriching the play for themselves and those around them.
  • Learner: Learners approach play as a means of growth and self-improvement. They eagerly seek out new challenges and opportunities to expand their skills and knowledge. Every game or activity becomes a chance to learn and develop, making them constantly evolve and adapt.
  • Anarchist: Anarchists disrupt the status quo and challenge conventional norms. While their chaotic tendencies may seem unpredictable, they bring a sense of spontaneity and unpredictability to the play. Though they may sometimes upset the balance, they also inject a sense of excitement and novelty into the experience.
  • Read More ...

    The Ludic Spirit Players

    Cards The Ludic Spirit Players

    I appreciate a well-structured typology, but only if I find it useful. So, it was a bit of a battle to justify yet another one to myself. But I managed, and so I present the Ludic Spirit Players!

    Based largely on observation of my own kids over the last 16 years, as well as other work in the field of play by those such as Bernard Suits and Bob Hughes, these “types” are specific to the way I am forming this Ludic Spirit stuff and Play – not Games or Gamification, so it is not an all-encompassing list of play types or types of player! Read More ...

    The Dark HEXAD – Star Wars has inspired a new HEXAD!

    Dark hexad The Dark HEXAD 8211 Star Wars has inspired a new HEXAD

    I was having a think about the User Type HEXAD and it occurred to me that I have never considered Star Wars and how that might fit the HEXAD! You know, as you do 😀

    As I did so, I was reminded of the fact that when I started building the user types, I used to split based on whether they interacted with people or a system AND if they acted on people or the system – I.E. imposed themselves on them rather than working within them.  This got me thinking about light and dark side HEXAD types. If you have seen my DODECAD you will know that there are actually 12 types in my overall taxonomy – but I really like this idea of a Dark HEXAD! Read More ...

    Relationships Between HEXAD Types

    Type relationships Relationships Between HEXAD Types

    It’s been a while since I wrote about the HEXAD user types, but the world does not stand still and I keep seeing them turning up in academic papers – which is amazing, so I thought it time to say a few words on things that have repeatedly come up!

    I was inspired by a recent paper by Ana Cláudia Guimarães Santos, Wilk Oliveiraa, Juho Hamari and Seiji Isotani called “Do people’s user types change over time? An exploratory study ” You can grab a copy here.

    Without spoiling too much, they come to many conclusions about the types, but one that stuck out for me was

    “the dominant user types can not be considered stable.”

    There were also a few comments around Free Spirits and Disruptors being a touch difficult as well!

    “Disruptor and Free Spirit presented reliability results slightly below the acceptable […] might highlight the necessity of the improvement of Disruptor and Free Spirit sub-scale or further analysis of these user types” Read More ...