The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle had a very simple and compelling theory about moral goodness: doing good things makes us good people. He writes that “it is our actions that determine our dispositions” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 2, p. 57); and further, “a man becomes just by the performance of just, and temperate by the performance of temperate, actions” (p. 62). It is an exercise model of virtue (p. 55): the more good deeds that we do in the world, the more virtuous we will become.

In this article, I will show that the games we play, by their reinforcement of certain patterns of behavior, have the potential to become Aristotelian exercise machines, making us morally better as we play them. It is only a matter of isolating the values that we want to promote, and seizing the autonomy to (re)design games which bring out those values in the course of playing them. Using Magic as a sample game for this discussion, I designed the ‘Magic Olympics’, a series of interconnected tournaments which will take place between August 21st-28th (inclusive) at the Face to Face Games store in Montreal, to demonstrate the point. The flavor of each of the five events correspond to the values expressed on the game’s ‘color wheel’.

What follows is (1) a little philosophy, (2) a little introspection, and (3) a schedule of events for the upcoming Magic Olympics.

A Little Philosophy: What Do Games Make Us Do?

To isolate the virtues and vices inherent in any particular game, you need to stop and think about what actions that game compels you to do: what behavior it elicits and reinforces via its rules, with special consideration given to the influence of the institutions that support and promote it, and the culture that hosts and surrounds it. Self-awareness and reflection is key here, as game behavior can quickly become internalized and be performed unconsciously.

This introspection is of particular importance and urgency, given that some unscrupulous game designers and game publishers may have more of an interest in selling more copies of their titles or in-game upgrades than the mental, spiritual, or physical wellbeing of their players. The ‘Skinner Box’ style of games that seduce their players into meaningless repetitive actions (and, ultimately, repetitive purchases: see Farmville or Mafia Wars for instance) are incredibly popular due to easily-accessible carriers like Facebook, and are therefore profitable and attractive for game producers to make. Unhappily, they turn their players into mouse-clicking duds with no opportunity for robust moral agency.

Returning to the example of Magic, let’s consider what kinds of behavior (and thus, according to Aristotle, character) this game typically produces in its player base:

• Collecting: An enfranchised Magic player’s house will often look like an episode of Hoarders.
• Deck-Building: The point of collecting cards is to have the resources to build a deck to play.
• Competing: Players often equate wins to social status, as well as a means for collecting cards.
• Grousing: When the collecting or competing activities don’t go as well as expected or planned.

Those are the main species of actions I’ve observed in my own behavior, and in my interactions with other Magic players. But how can we tell whether those behaviors are desirable or undesirable; whether they will produce virtues or vices in our characters? Once again, Aristotle has the answer.

Aristotle wrote of a ‘Golden Mean’ with regard to virtue. He theorized that virtuous behavior is situated between two vices, one of which is a lack of the virtue, and the other of which is an excess of it. We can see this point clearly via the analogy of strength, which “is destroyed by too much and also by too little exercise” (p. 58).

Collecting and competing might be considered candidates for virtues on this model, as we can see positive aspects of them—there wouldn’t be libraries or museums without the practice of collecting, for instance—and we can also intelligibly identify their accompanying vices:

Profligacy (not enough collecting) >> Collecting << Hoarding (too much collecting)

Trifling (not competitive enough) >> Competing << Bellicosity (too competitive)

Viewing collecting and competing as virtue-building ‘Golden Mean’ activities makes sense. With reference to collecting: throwing away all of your cards would be wasteful and silly; while keeping all of your extra cards would be greedy and obsessive. Similarly, with competing: not taking the game seriously is immoral because you’re effectively wasting your opponent’s time; but taking it too seriously, to the point that you disrespect your opponent for the sake of a win, is equally despicable. For pattern completionists, we could do a similar (though less elegant) analysis with ‘strategic preparation’ as the activity which best captures what occurs in the process of deck-building. I’ll refrain, however, for the sake of clarity and time.

Grousing (also known as ‘griefing’ or ‘getting salty’), on the other hand, is clearly not a candidate for being a virtue. This is because there is no such thing as ‘not enough’ grousing—no one’s asking for more, and in fact any amount of grousing is too much. The Stoics, Aristotle’s immediate intellectual descendants, got things right in this regard: emotional detachment is the correct response to factors outside of your control (this includes, but is not limited to, the revealed contents of any particular booster pack, or the result of any match in a high-variance game like Magic).

A Little Introspection: Why Am I Writing About This?

Recently in this column (specifically in Yorke on Games #18-#21), I’ve been focusing on describing what’s wrong with games and player behavior, instead of encouraging what’s right. For balance, I needed to examine what virtues could be unlocked through gaming, rather than nitpick the vices that are sometimes exhibited. I needed a ‘Gallant’ to counterpoise the kinds of ‘Goofus’ I was describing, but without being cloying or overly didactic. The trick was to provide an aspirational model, rather than merely condemn without offering alternatives.

I had a bit of a breakthrough when I converted “Magic in Utopia” (the topic of Yorke on Games #6: see http://manadeprived.com/yorke-on-games-6-magic-in-utopia/ ) into an academic article for my PhD supervisors to give me feedback on. They suggested that I submit it to the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport conference, and enter it in the contest for their essay prize. Recently, I was informed that I’d won the only prize (called the R. Scott Kretchmar Student Essay Award, in case you’d like to apply for it next year), and free airfare to present my work at the world’s biggest conference on the philosophy of sport. So this September, I’ll be an invited speaker at the IAPS conference in Olympia, Greece: the site of the ancient Olympics! It’s the academic equivalent to winning a blue envelope.

This set my mind racing to the actual Olympics, and how there are ‘Olympic Values’ which serve as a guide to sportsmanlike conduct. What if there were an Olympics wherein the values didn’t (only) serve as constraints on behavior, but where the choice of games themselves generated the desired behavior? What would this utopian Olympics look like?

In the past, most games developed organically over time, with little or no attention paid to the underlying values they expressed. Sportsmanship is essentially a ‘patch’ for these flawed games, whose rules implicitly (and sometime explicitly) permitted or even encouraged bad behavior. Ideally, utopian games would be consciously designed so that being successful at them would require the possession of a certain set of excellences or virtues: sportsmanship would be built into the event, rather than being added on as an afterthought.

In the course of pursuing these ideas, I soon became aware that the next actual Olympic Games would be held in Rio de Janeiro from August 5th-21st of this year. The end date for Rio 2016—August 21st—is the same day I’m organizing the Eldritch Moon One-Day League at Face to Face Games. It’s a figurative passing of the torch.

I’d been kicking around the idea for a Magic Olympics or similar series of events for a while, but never quite knew when would be a good time to implement it. Recalling that I was also organizing the Conspiracy: Take the Crown league on the next weekend, August 28th, it clicked. What if, throughout the week between these two events, we had a few other tournaments, which tested other skills, and brought these together under the banner of the ‘Magic Olympics’?

This would give me a chance to try out my idea of a tournament that linked abstract virtues to actual gameplay, before I gave my presentation at the philosophy conference in Olympia. It would connect my two one-day all-you-can-play league events together in a larger framework, and capitalize on the excitement generated by Rio 2016. All the stars were lined up to make the Magic Olympics a reality.

The Magic Olympics: Schedule of Events

As I mentioned previously, participants in the Olympic Games are expected to embody ‘Olympic Values’, such as the pursuit of excellence, fair play, and the balance between mind, body, and character. Some of these have to do with the self, some with one’s performance on the field of play, and some with the relationship between the athlete and his or her community. In this tournament series, I turned this idea on its head and had each event represent the core value of the colors from the Magic color wheel. To succeed at each event, you must internalize the core values of each different color. For instance:

Roughly speaking, these Magic Olympic values can be translated into the more general virtues of having respect for others in one’s community, challenging oneself intellectually, playing excellently, taking joy in one’s efforts, and growing creatively. These are the most positive elements of our game, and what ought to be celebrated more often and more explicitly at tournaments of all levels. By exercising autonomy in our design and choice of formats, it is my belief that we can help shape positive player behaviors in these directions, and therefore transform our gaming communities for the better.

The full schedule of events below demonstrates how I’ve mapped these core values to the various events:

As in the regular Olympics, in each event players are playing for various types of medals / metals (these will be represented as certificates in the Magic Olympics):

Gold = 3 points
Silver = 2 points
Bronze = 1 point

Points will also carry over from each event into the overall Olympic tournament, and at the end of August 28th we will tally all of the points and name the overall Gold, Silver, and Bronze champions. The two main tentpole events, the one-day leagues, will have prize support from Face to Face Games, while the three minor events (including the Card Creation Contest) will not. However, the winners of the series will have bragging rights, and the experience of having played in an absolutely unique tournament. If all goes well, maybe next year it will get support from the store. Let’s play and see!

For those readers who are intrigued, and wish to take part in the Magic Olympics, I will quickly go through the rules for each event:

1. Eldritch Moon One-Day All-You-Can-Play League (Sealed): 10am August 21 [$25]

There is an entire article devoted to the rules and strategy of this event. See Yorke on Games #23 for details:
http://manadeprived.com/yorke-games-23-go-mad-eldritch-moon-one-day-can-play-league/

2. Bachelor’s Format (Constructed): 6pm August 24 [FREE]

Bachelor’s Format is, quite simply, a constructed format wherein the legal cardpool consists of the last 12 sets that were released in Standard. For the tournament on August 24th, that will include EMN-SOI, OGW-BFZ, ORI-DTK, FRF-KTK, M15-JOU, and BNG-THS. This format is largely untested, so it will be interesting to see what players bring to the table in terms of decklists. For ease of reference, I’ve set the parameters on Gatherer to fit Bachelor’s Format: click here.

3. Secret Santa Draft (Constructed Booster Draft): 6pm August 25 [FREE]

The Secret Santa Draft, on the other hand, has seen action before at the shop and it’s a ton of fun. Players design their own boosters from their own collection of cards, wrap them in tin foil, mix them up, and draft them. The only restrictions on building packs are based on rarity (1 rare or mythic, 3 uncommon, 11 common cards) and color balance (must contain at least 2 cards of each of the five colors). There is an entire article devoted to the rules and strategy of this event. See Yorke on Games #11 for details:
http://manadeprived.com/yorke-on-games-11-the-secret-santa-draft/

4. Create a Custom Card (Contest): opens today, closes August 14th, results August 28 [FREE]

A recurring feature of this column is the introduction of custom cards. Primarily, I love tinkering with Magic formats, but designing new cards is a close second. Well, now I’d like to see what the ManaDeprived readership is capable of creating. Here’s how to participate:

a) Go to this site: http://www.mtgcardmaker.com/
b) Design a new card.
c) Save the card image to your computer.
d) Attach the card image to an email, and send it to christopher.yorke@gmail.com with the heading “Custom Card Contest” by August 14th, 2016 (limit of one card per competitor).

Once all submissions are received, they will be reviewed for originality (anything copied from MTGSalvation, for example, will be disqualified). The remaining cards will be anonymously posted in an upcoming Yorke on Games, where the public will have a chance to vote online on their favorites. The cards with the Top 3 number of votes will have their creators’ identities revealed, and they will be awarded the Gold, Silver, and Bronze certificates for this event in the Magic Olympics closing ceremony on August 28th.

5. Conspiracy Take the Crown One-Day All-You-Can-Play League (MegaDraft): 10am August 28 [$30]

There is an entire article devoted to the rules and strategy of this event. See Yorke on Games #24 for details:
http://manadeprived.com/yorke-games-24-watch-back-conspiracy-2-one-day-can-play-league/

Conclusion: Play Better, Get Better

As I’ve implied above, I think that Magic can be a ‘good’ game in all senses of the word—well-designed, morally defensible, and capable of producing positive player experiences—and therefore that playing it can help make us better people, along Aristotelian lines. But the cards themselves are simply pieces; they are atomic ideas that can either be used in ways that have been prescribed by their publisher, or reconfigured into new forms to create what Bernard Suits called “games unthought of today”: utopian games, which make better people of their players. We cannot be afraid to try out new combinations of these pieces—combinations unintended and unanticipated by their designers—and seeing what comes of our creative enterprises. I hope you’ll join me, and challenge yourself and the other participants in the Magic Olympics, this August 21st-28th. The exercise of wrapping your head around multiple new formats and seeing how you fare will pay off in dividends unknown to those who stick to the well-trodden path of Standard—Modern—Draft, week in and week out. Come play, and feel the results for yourself!