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Kinds of Rule-Breaking
Rule-bending and rule-breaking manipulate the structure of a game. To cheat or transgress in a game means to break the rules, to have a relationship to the formal system that is different than the relationship that the formal system itself presupposes and endorses. In considering the ways that game rules are broken, we can divide players into different player "types." Each type of player is defined by his or her relation to the formal systems of a game, along three related axes of behavior and attitude:
The rule-breaking player's adherence to the rules
The rule-breaking player's interest in winning
The rule-breaking player's degree of lusory attitude
Player Types
The Standard Player: This player type is a "standard" and honest game player that plays the game as it was designed to be played, following the rules and respecting their authority. The Dedicated Player: This close cousin of the standard player studies the formal systems of a game in order to master and perfect his or her play of the game, often finding and exploiting unusual strategies in order to win. Examples: professional athletes, hardcore gamers.
The Unsportsmanlike Player: This third type of player follows the rules of a game, but does so in a way that violates the spirit of the lusory attitude. Examples: The older sibling that never lets the younger sibling win, or the baseball catcher that tries to distract the batter's concentration at the plate.
The Cheat: The cheater, unlike the other kinds of game-players, actually violates the formal rules of the game, but does so in order to win the game. Example: The hide-and-seek player that peeks while the other players are hiding.
The Spoil-Sport: This kind of game player is hardly a player at all. Unlike the cheat, the spoil-sport refuses to acknowledge the magic circle of the game and does not care about winning or about following the rules. Example: The frustrated Twister player that ruins a game by pushing over the other players.
In the sections that follow, we describe each kind of player in more detail. But before moving on, it is important to recognize that these categories are neither fixed nor mutually exclusive. The boundaries between them are quite fuzzy, and often contextual. A player that is a dedicated hardcore gamer among gamer friends might be seen as an unsportsmanlike, overly competitive "power gamer" when playing a game with more casual players. Likewise, a player might shift between categories over time, or even within the course of a single game. Despite the fluid boundaries between them, however, these categories provide a useful typology for understanding the ways players stretch, bend, and break game rules.
