What do play styles say about a species? It is generally agreed upon that humans are not the only animals that play. Dogs will play-fight, cats will play-stalk, squirrels do that thing with their tails. Animals of all sorts exhibit play or play-like behavior. Assuming all behavior is, in some way, useful for the survival and propagation of an individual within its species, play must somehow also be useful. This has already been documented well by psychologists and zoologists.
Not all animals play, and all animals that do play play differently. For instance, fish and reptiles rarely exhibit play behavior. Not all birds or mammals play, either. Top predators and lower predators also play differently. Both practice hunting behavior, but lower carnivores also practice fleeing behavior. Herbivorous species play based mostly on their strongest predator evasion method: deer gore and stamp, horses run and kick, squirrels run like mad, etc. Scavengers play differently still. Vultures compete with each other over things less important than food, and humans, generally believed to be a scavenger species at heart (until tool use developed significantly,) have a huge range of competitive play behaviors.
Generally, though, the less time an animal spends struggling for basic survival the more time it spends playing. Relative safety is one of the necessary starting conditions for play.
Knowing the function of play can also shed light on the needs of an individual, and a species. Generally play seems to reflect practice for critical moments in life. Equine species' bucking and kicking are directly useful as practice for fending off attackers. Likewise horses will often run for extended periods of time when not threatened. This form or practice play, like playing a sport, keeps muscles fresh for use later when they may find themselves fleeing from a predator.
As a contrast, playing among dogs simulates pack hunting behavior, a complex action the success of which can determine the fate of the pack. In the wild this play also helps establish rank within the social group. The best at playing then become the leaders in the hunt.
Also, species generally believed to be smarter exhibit more ornate forms of play. Dolphins are known to create elaborate games of catch, group hunting games, and chasing games. Chimpanzees also play socially, competitively, and as practice. Humans, of course, play in these ways as well.
If the most basic styles of play can be used to determine the survival needs of a species, what information does human play tell us about ourselves? Human play covers an enormous range of variation. However, there are some major themes to human play. First is object manipulation. This is no great surprise, that a species which stakes its survival on tool use specifically plays a great deal throwing, hitting, and catching things. Another is nurturing play. This form of play is not frequently seen outside human behavior. Humans are born in a much more vulnerable state than most animals, and require quite a bit more nurturing than most. We are, essentially, totally dependent on outside help for the first 13-15 years of our lives. It is no wonder that children practice this nurturing behavior.
Another unique, and possibly the most interesting, form of human exclusive play is in deception. Chess, B.S., Poker and all its variants, Blackjack, monopoly; the list goes on and on. Humans spend a good amount of time practicing lying to each other and knowing when they're being lied to. This is, probably, the most necessary for the survival post hunter-gatherer humanity. As humans pulled themselves out of the cycle of predator/prey interaction the only remaining natural predator of humanity became humanity itself, and knowing if someone is offering to take care of your farm while meaning they'll run off with your food becomes more necessary than being able to outrun a predator.
In-fact, it would seem that more human play is based on effectively combating each other than on wilderness survival. The ancient olympics for instance featured boxing, wrestling, chariot racing, javelin throwing (for distance), and running. None of which are particularly effective with or against other species. The sports of Medieval times were almost entirely war-based featurign jousting, archery, and gameball (a sport not unlike American football.)
The evidence would suggest that, if play styles develop as useful methods of ensuring survival, humans are almost totally concerned with surviving other humans.
Research:
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