The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Publisher: Canongate Books
Publish date: 28 August 2025
Pages: 256
Binding: Paperback
Language: English

Subjects: Crafts & Hobbies, History, Social History

Why is playing games a universal human instinct? Why did the same games evolve across wildly different civilisations? And how can those games make your life happier, healthier and more fulfilled? From scratching shapes in the sand to the combative bonding of festive board games, humans have created games to encourage fun, competition, collaboration and, in the very hardest of times, escape. In this fascinating and entertaining look at games throughout history, Tim Clare explores the legal highs of a good dice roll, the thrills of a predatory race game, and the tactile pleasures of the games that age with us through our lives. Drawing on Roman anti-cheating devices, organised crime card games, and dice contests that link Chaucer to Warren G, The Game Changers will show you why games are more popular now than ever, and how playing them helps us win more often, become better losers and stay one step ahead – on and off the board. Through play, we become fully ourselves.