After more than 50 years spent in the zoological study of play in animals, Bob Fagen is still at it. His book Animal Play Behavior (1981) is one of the standard references on the topic. Bob’s interests span the phylogenetic spectrum of playful species, with particular emphasis on birds and nonhuman mammals, at the same time recognizing the guiding significance of play in other animal taxa. His playful, scholarly contribution, springing the trap of aesthetic evolution, was one of the first to suggest links between play and aesthetics. Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, Louk Vanderschuren has studied animal models in social play behavior, impulse control and addiction asking, ‘why do children and young animals play?’. Here they explore the notion of Thrill as a possible driver of animal (including human) play.