What are the instrumental factors in initiating group play?

Social Dynamics is the field which focuses on studying group behaviour. In game studies there are many different domains of play, but group play or multi-player represents a vibrant and growing domain of interaction. This project is concerned with the complicated and unexplored relationships involving players when choosing to play a game with others. Contemporary game design appears to utilise typology-based methods to define and serve an audience, but an unexplained phenomenon within social dynamics influences the commencement of play. The proposed project will undertake three granular, qualitative and mixed method studies in order to understand this problem and present a viable hypothesis.