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I am so fond of the Joyful Game. I think it's important (especially in the gaming sphere, where things tend to get competitive at best and vitriolic at worst) that we have games that make us more hyper-aware of our positive connections to other people. Having joy in turn makes you want to share joy with other people!! And in the face of seriousness & pain out in the world, our minds need to...in a sense, "fill up with joy" to combat the world! The definition of a Joyful Player is also nice. Could a Joyful Player in turn make any game into a Joyful Game?

I like how the examples of Joyful Games given all embody a similar aesthetic as well: bright colors, pleasant sound design, and friendly shapes! I'd also like to nominate Videoball by Action Button as a Joyful game. Maybe some people will disagree with me, I don't know. Also, I think what makes a good Icebreaker game is similar qualities to Joyful Games.

"Could a Joyful Player in turn make any game into a Joyful Game?"

I think so! I played The Binding of Isaac with a friend some time ago, and while the game is super stressing and gory, we'd try to play in tandem, them controlling the movement and me the shooting, and vice versa. And this is a thing I've heard everywhere: people are playing games like Dark Souls with strange constraints, there was this 'Twitch plays XXX' thing that was really fun and unique (until it got stale of course)... So yeah, if you have a joyful mind, you can play anything in joyful ways, alone or with your friends :)

I didn't know Videoball, I looked up a video online, and I think it'd be at home with all the other joyful games! And it made me think of Rocket League too. I don't have much experience with icebreaker games but if the goal is to have quick laughs and get in the mood to engage with people you don't necessarily know, then it definitely has connections with the joyful game.