# The magic circle

- Term: General term
- Date: 1938
- Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/magic-circle/

> The boundary that separates a game from ordinary life, inside which special rules and meanings apply. Game scholars debate how porous it is, as when virtual gold sells for real money or a character's grief becomes the player's.

The boundary that separates a game from ordinary life, inside which special rules and meanings apply. Game scholars debate how porous it is, as when virtual gold sells for real money or a character's grief becomes the player's.

**Origin:** Drawn from Johan Huizinga's Homo Ludens (1938); applied to games by Eric Zimmerman and colleagues and popularized in Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman's Rules of Play (2003).

## Quick answers

**What does "The magic circle" mean?**
The boundary that separates a game from ordinary life, inside which special rules and meanings apply. Game scholars debate how porous it is, as when virtual gold sells for real money or a character's grief becomes the player's.

**Where does the term "The magic circle" come from?**
Drawn from Johan Huizinga's Homo Ludens (1938); applied to games by Eric Zimmerman and colleagues and popularized in Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman's Rules of Play (2003).

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From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.