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Jim Whitman's avatar

Thank you for this. A complementary recommendation--a philosophical , creative take on games in the broadest sense: James P. Carse, 'Finite and Infinite Games'. It's a short work, set out in numbered propositions, the first of which is: 'There are two kinds of games, finite and infinite. The purpose of a finite game is to win; the purpose of an infinite game is to continue play.' It's not the kind of book you're likely to read only once--there's a recommendation! Much to wrangle with and to savour (not least the deeply resonant opening proposition.)

Hummingbear's avatar

IMHO, the conversation goes sideways right at the beginning, when you agree that games are artificial, engineered, etc.

Tell that to a dog who wants to play fetch, or a baby laughing at peek-a-boo.

Our oldest and most enduring games evolved naturally. I imagine there's a great discussion to be had on the same topic, but setting aside the last 50 years of commercialization.

e may's avatar

so grateful for this conversation today. thank you.

Ana G's avatar

this was a fun conversation to listen into. it helped clarif why I keep on playing games. I don't want to play. I'm just pushing forward till number go up

Noah's Titanium Spine's avatar

amazon recommended me this book earlier but I hadn't heard of it... now I think I need it

Jeremy Chen's avatar

Dialogue between liturgy and gamification.

I want to see Byung Chul Han engage this gamification philosophy