lane

lane
Originally uploaded by seanjustice.

patterns overlay. a trail becomes a path becomes a lane becomes a road becomes a street becomes a boulevard becomes a right of way becomes a superhighway. can you walk across?

earlier this evening i watched my sons play Yugioh, a complicated card game with a varied deck of monsters and heros with scaleable positions of defense and attack. each player draws from a private deck, in turn, and lays down a card, face up, face down, side-ways, vertical. each card affects other cards according to an arcane calculus of cause-effect. certain cards allow the player to scramble the deck of the opposing player, or steal cards from him. each turn has a numerical consequence, plus or minus points, which are calculated on the fly, without notes, by negotiation. 2400 points, 1000 points, minus 2450 points, plus 500 points, you lose. you win.

is this a technology? what efficiency is enhanced? what work is accomplished? is this not a technology? is this bandwidth of exchange attributable, integral, to this game? how does the game propogate itself? what carries it forward? is the game necessary? why is the game so entertaining?

my sons are 9 and 11. i've been watching them play Yugioh for 4 years. i don't remember playing this way.