Is game design a form of play?

I personally think that “Game design is a form of “Play”.  The term “Play” is defined as “Play is the free space of movement within a more rigid structure”.  Scholar Roger caliilois has classified “Play” into four different parts. They are:

Type	Definition	Examples
Agon	Competitive play	Chess, rugby, find four
Alea	Games of chance	Roulette,  Bingo, slot machine
Mimicry	Role playing  or Simulation	Dragons and Dungeon, final fantasy,
Ilinx	Playing with physical sensation of vertigo and risk taking.	Flying fox and dancing, rock climbing.

Not only that, Caillois had stated that games can be also defined in this way:

Type	Definition
Paidia	No rules! Wild, free form, uncontrolled fantasy
Ludus	Rule bound, regulated, formalised.

Basically, games can be classified under any of the mentioned sector.  A game does not necessarily need to fall in one specific category. For an example, Cluedo (board game) can be classified under Alea as the players’ uses dice to make their moves. At the same time, it can be considered as Agon as it is a competition between players to solve a mystery.

Heading back to the main question, I personally feel that game design is actually form of free play.  Game design can fall under the category of Ilinx and mimicry.

It falls under IIlnix as the game designer is taking a risk while developing a game.  Game designers might not know whether the gamers will like and play the game. Hence, it will be under Illnix.

Mimicry is included during the creation of a game. They have to be in character in order to find out on how the game is going to be like.  Role playing may help the designer to develop their characters in a way that fits into a game.

If a game designer is limited within a box, then it falls under the Ludas. Within the rule bound, the designer is not given much of choice to create a game. When the game designers are allowed to think out of the box,there will be no rules to make a game plan. Hence, the designer is given a choice to create a game in the given freedom. This is known Paidia.

Overall, I feel that game design can be classified as a play.