playfield

Noun

playfield (plural playfields)

1. A playing field.
   • 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 […]1884, Alexander Maxwell, The History of Old Dundee
   • It has been recommended by some recreational specialists that there should be one such playfield for each 500 children of high school age.1974, Comprehensive Plan for Covington, Kentucky, and Environs
2. The onscreen area within which a game (especially a video game) is played.
   • 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.1977, Popular Science
   • In this case, the playfield is more disorienting and feels more like the maze that it is.2007, Friedrich von Borries, et al: Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism
3. (pinball) The main surface inside the machine where the ball moves and the game takes place.