At a certain age, one must discover that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Bob your imaginary friend do not exist. Neither does the tooth fairy… and, oh yeah, the monsters under your bed- just a figment of your imagination. Furthermore, who is better equipped than an adult to set you straight on matters of reality?

Adults are always differentiating between the real world and make believe. An adult serves as “the one who breaks up the game, the one who denounces the absurdity of the rules, [and] now becomes the one who breaks the spell” (Caillois 8). Whether at home, school, or church you can always count on the adult of the group to demand one to ‘grow up and stop playing silly games’.

Both Koster and Caillois introduce the concept that “with age, some games turn serious” (Koster 51) thus posing the questions: Why are some games suddenly considered unacceptable because you turned a year older? How does society deem which “games” and “play” are tolerable based upon age? Why are adults so anxious and entitled to destroy the make believe world of children?

As life progresses an awareness of societal propriety increases. Transformation of games within a collective norm is severely altered by the opinions and beliefs of the surrounding adults. We, as individuals, must strive to accept, renounce, or proclaim the ideals of play under the societal hierarchy.