Abstract
The chapter investigates the meaning of the adjective “traditional” within the context of early play studies. Its use adjective is never neutral, since it inevitably reflects a specific perspective towards an action or event at a particular time. In play studies, in particular, it is widely used and can assume two different acceptations: i) when the focus is on a play practice, “traditional game” indicates a practice played by a specific community in a given territory, in other words, a diachronically transmitted tradition, peculiar to that culture; and, ii) when the focus is on the structure of the game as distinct from its practice, “traditional game” indicates the game itself, its origin, evolution and dissemination across borders. This study suggests that both perspectives are important when investigating traditional games still played today, as they facilitate the identification of “families of games”, assuming their continuity, whether they descend from a recent or ancient past, or individuating cross-cultural influences and synchronic transmission.