Play. When we think of the word, we might envision images of children running around in a playground, puppies wrestling, or "gamers" concentrating on hitting their targets in a first-person shooter. Activities that seem frivolous and removed from the serious business of life. But what if instead, we looked beyond these images, to what play really involves: improvisation, creative problem-solving, strategy, empathy, subverting social norms, and systems-thinking? If play is how we naturally learn, perhaps games are more serious than we think. In this class we'll look at how games model the world, and the world is reflected in games and their systems. We'll also look at a world that is increasingly game-like, with political and economic actors "gaming the system," and lives impacted by algorithms and rules that create inequity and at the same time, tactical opportunities. We'll play games, deconstruct them, modify them, and make them, reflecting systems in the world and experiences that are fun and profound, serious and playful. By the end of the semester, you will have a deeper understanding of how games work, and through playing and making them, how the world works too. Students must register for both the lecture and discussion section of this course. [This ULEC is in category 3, Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Arts & Humanities.]