Game of magic: can a card trick feel like a game?

Abstract

The cross referencing of game design and magic theory is greatly understudied. The objective of this thesis was to find how a card trick can feel like a game and simultaneously try to improve an existing card trick created by the author to feel like a game. The thesis studied different definitions of game and play as well as magic theory where it attempted to focus on the Spanish style of magic. After giving the reader a suitable understanding of the framework of the thesis, as well as the definitions of the studied topics, the main bulk of the thesis talks about interviews conducted by the author with Finnish magicians, and the iterative design process of the trick in question. The study showed that a magic trick of any kind can feel like a game or a play, it just depends on its implementation. The study will be of help to future academic studies on the topic of magic. The result of the thesis was that the original trick branched into three different performance pieces: into a close-up trick, a stage play, and a board game. The end product for the thesis was a prototype rule sheet for the board game, so that it could be played with four players.