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In arguing that striving play can enhance our autonomy, Nguyen criticizes Miguel Sicart, who thinks that we find true freedom only outside the limitations of rules, including game rules. On the one hand, one can play a game, play a joke on someone, play the guitar or play someone for a fool. Keywords: Play; striving play; fun; games; aesthetics EN Play striving play fun games aesthetics 403 413 11 12/22/21 20211101 NES 211101 I Games: Agency as Art i is wonderful, and in my opinion the most important book in the philosophy of games since Bernard Suits' I The Grasshopper i . Nguyen himself mentions fun in passing as the point of most "stupid games", but they are also important to party games that are not stupid games in his technical sense, many informal card and board games and even many of the so-called "heavy strategy games" Nguyen mentions. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, I develop an account of play and playfulness, argue it is superior to its rivals and investigate the value of play so understood. I begin by laying out some interesting semantic features of 'play' which have not previously been systematically investigated (section 1). A failure to note these distinctions can lead theorists (and has led them) into unwitting equivocations and confusions. Drawing on this broader semantic framework, I lay out and motivate a positive account of the meaning of 'play' and the nature of play full‐stop (section 2). I then survey some of this account's main advantages (section 3) and argue that the theory helps us better understand the value of play (section 4), where this value should inform both moral theory and political philosophy. I then compare the proposal with rival theories (section 5). I conclude by suggesting directions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]