Play and work: serious game between competition and seriousness


Play and work are realities that, within a society strongly striving for productivity, are often placed on two distinct planes, in opposition to each other: acknowledging the centrality of play as a space for adult character formation (Bondioli, 1996), play nevertheless seems to be a "waste of time" compared to the main activity of an adult's life, their work (Baumgartner, 2007). This criticality may prevent the adult from seizing the educational opportunities proper to the playful sphere; precisely the definition of possible Serious Games, aimed at educational aspects rather than just entertainment (Michel, Chen, 2005), offers the possibility of making the playful experience acceptable even in work environments proper to adult life. This contribution aims to reconstruct the concept of seriousness through the lens of competition, a possibility proper to sports-games.