playfield

English

Etymology

play +‎ field

Noun

playfield (plural playfields)

1. A playing field.
   • 1884, Alexander Maxwell, The History of Old Dundee:

     The position of the playfield is here identified as lying north of this open space between it and the burn, and occupying the haugh which extended west […]

   • 1974, Comprehensive Plan for Covington, Kentucky, and Environs:

     It has been recommended by some recreational specialists that there should be one such playfield for each 500 children of high school age.

2. The area within which a game (especially a video game) is played.
   • 1977, Popular Science:

     The game has a tilt feature — tilt Fireball and a tilt sign glows and the scoring stops. The full-sized, full-color commercial playfield even has a special friction silk-screened surface so the ball will roll and not slide.

   • 2007, Friedrich von Borries, et al: Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism:

     In this case, the playfield is more disorienting and feels more like the maze that it is.

Translations

playing field — see playing field

area within which a game is played

• Bulgarian: игрище (bg) n (igrište)
• Finnish: pelikenttä (fi)
• Galician: campo de xogo (gl) m