In-Game vs Isolated
Most of the posts on this blog will be treating the game bits in an extra-game context; for example, sitting on a shelf as opposed to in the middle of the game.
The reason for this is that a piece in-game contains a wealth of state-related information on top of the representational information that I am interested in here. The Ace of Spades by itself means something quite different than during a game of Bridge.
Hidden in this distinction is one of my basic assumptions: that all game bits can be treated as signs in certain contexts and under certain codes. Context and code have a significant impact on what the bit represents, and thus add numerous complications. A bit in-game is functioning within a larger context than a bit on its own.
While all of these factors are significant and interesting, for the purposes of brevity I will not be dealing much with in-game bits.
