Oh look! My Guardian article is online at last! I really enjoyed writing this one. www.theguardian.com/books/2024/o... - ThreadSky

timclare.bsky.social • 126 days ago

Oh look! My Guardian article is online at last! I really enjoyed writing this one.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/oct/28/the-big-idea-how-games-can-change-your-life?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks

Comments

marcelineleiman.bsky.social•126 days ago

This was an awesome article Tim!!

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Ah thank you so much! & congratulations with launching your new game.

marcelineleiman.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thanks! Some great quotes in there I’ll be keeping in my pocket. It’s always been bizarre to me that people need purpose to play. Play itself is the purpose!

I loved the part about not using Uno to train your daughter for the workforce haha

misskachoob.bsky.social•99 days ago

Great topic. I just picked up cribbage again... There's a friendly tournament held each Wednesday at the Legion a block away from my place! I'm going to have an advantage as a sober!

michaelwood.bsky.social•126 days ago

Can I ask, is the beard growth between the two profile pictures an indication of how long it took to go live :)

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

You mean in the article & here? My beard continually fluctuates between stubble & forest survivalist hermit.

michaelwood.bsky.social•126 days ago

Well both the beard, and the piece, are very well crafted.

I remember hitting on this idea - that life (and in this case, games and play) is not a preparation for work - at an alarmingly old age.

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thank you. It's a topic very close to my heart.

kasaubon.bsky.social•126 days ago

Great article. And Théophile Gautier had quite the turn of phrase too.

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

He also looked like he was mad at having been born a hundred years too early to be a roadie for Megadeth

weheart.games•126 days ago

😂😂😂

cbreflection.bsky.social•99 days ago

Overheard

weheart.games•126 days ago

Even as someone with a deep love for games... who signs off all my emails with "- Keep playing,"... I still fall victim to 'the tyranny of efficiency' at times, and question my own passions and how I spend my time as a game designer.

Thank you for writing this. 🧡

qwertymartin.bsky.social•126 days ago

That's lovely Tim!

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thank you!

cbreflection.bsky.social•99 days ago

I feel like this should have been longer! There were a lot of great points made (puritan work ethic, comparison to s*x etc) but barely touched the surface. I could hear the editors pen from here!

Great job!

merilainen.bsky.social•126 days ago

Loved it!

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thanks!

shreesh.bsky.social•126 days ago

I saw snippets of the article being shared by so many of my online groups. Cheers for the lovely article! Excited to buy your book as well 🤗

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thank you!

patcrowe.boardgameplayer.net•125 days ago

"We choose to play these games, not because they useful, or developmental, educational, but because they are fun; because the measure of our society is in the leisure in which we spend our best energies and skills, because games are a challenge we are willing to accept, and one we intend to win."

patcrowe.boardgameplayer.net•126 days ago

Great article, thank you

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

You're very welcome. Thank you for the kind encouragement

peersylvester.bsky.social•126 days ago

Id like your comparision with sex. Not (only) bc of sex, but also because its apt.

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thank you! (I think)

peersylvester.bsky.social•126 days ago

No, it was very clever. The whole article was good, but that part stood out for me.

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thank you! Sorry, sometimes I need a bit of clarification because I'm not always confident reading people's implications on account of the ol 'tism

mattthr.bsky.social•126 days ago

This is lovely Tim! Thanks for putting it in front of a wider audience.

Can I be cheeky and ask who it was that commissioned it?

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Not cheeky at all. I did it through David Shariatmadari - I don't know if he's the only one who commissions the Big Idea column. His official title is Non Fiction Books Editor. As you'll know, pitching is always tricky because they don't know where tabletop games go.

mattthr.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thanks. I have tried both games & lifestyle editors and not even got a reply :(

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Well it's either my enormous cultural cache opening doors or, more likely, dumb luck based on whims of editors. I've been pitching all year & this is my first thing since April. Keep at it! Ganbatte!

sarahmay1.bsky.social•126 days ago

I love it!

timclare.bsky.social•126 days ago

Thank you!

jochengreiving.bsky.social•100 days ago

"Games are an invitation to break free from the tyranny of efficiency. Play matters precisely because it is unnecessary. We play because we love joy, and we love feeling free."

jochengreiving.bsky.social•100 days ago

While I agree that this 👆 is fully sufficient to serve as a reason for playing games it is, depending on the game, probably nearly impossible not to learn or experience something that has an impact on "real" life without being work, as a side effect or even by purpose (e.g. historical board games).

timclare.bsky.social•100 days ago

Yes, absolutely agree. Just like my playing with & cuddling my 1 y.o. certainly influences her cognitive development. That's not *why* I do it (nor any other parent) but it's nice that it has positive effects. Same with games. Glad they probably offer some fringe benefits.

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