Notgames Forum

Here is a write up:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/164420/GDC_2012_Die_Gute_Fabriks_Wilson_on_how_simple_tech_enhances_folk_play_.php?

Now that I think about it more, I might disagree with what I said earlier about the magic circle being a games-specific suspension of disbelief.

Maybe the magic circle is not related to games at all, but is simply how you describe the suspension of disbelief when it comes to real-life media like live-action roleplaying (sports are LARP+games) or token-based roleplaying (boardgames are TBRP+games).

So in other words, the magic circle is pretending. In the case of real-life gaming, your pretending is an agreement to be bound by the abstract games structure, but for things like playing with your legos, the magic circle is simply agreeing to be bound by your imagined world.