The Infinite Playground / 2020 / MIT Press
Cover illustration by Edanur Kuntman
The Infinite Playground is the last book of Bernard De Koven (1941-2018), a pioneering designer of games and theorist of fun. It offers a curriculum for playful learning, and explores the role of imagination: the imagination as a playground, a possibility space, and a gateway to wonder.
Along with editors Celia Pearce and Eric Zimmerman, I worked with Bernie during the last months of his life to complete the project, working with his existing drafts and discussing the project through video calls as his illness made it impossible for him to continue writing. It combines Bernie’s meditations and theoretical writings on the role of imagination with a collection of games and activities collected, invented and expanded on through a lifetime of play.
The book also contains short contributions from 21 colleagues, family members, artists and game designers discussing the context and impact of Bernie’s work.