Description
Book SynopsisEdward Castronova is Professor of Media at Indiana University, USA. He is the author of
Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games (2006),
Exodus to the Virtual World (2008) and
Wildcat Currency: The Virtual Transformation of the Economy (2014). He specializes in Games, Technology, and Society, and has served in the past as Director of the BS degree program in Game Design, and Chair of the Department of Media Arts and Production.
Trade ReviewLife Is a Game goes beyond the new field of game design – beyond game theory and beyond the neurobiology of games ... Instead, the book centers on the human condition as it is reflected in game thinking ...
Life Is a Game is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together content from across academic fields, and appealing to any scholarly and lay readers with interests in politics, philosophy, economics, sociology, and of course, game design. * Popular Culture Studies Journal *
Edward Castranova is one of the most brilliant minds ever to study games, so it's no surprise that his latest book,
Life is a Game, is fascinating and wise. But it's more than that. It's also a hell of a lot of fun to entertain these mindblowing ideas - I couldn't put it down. This is must-reading for anyone who wants a a fresh philosophy on life, and a profound look at the deepest meaning of games. This book is grounded in history and centuries of wisdom, but at the same time bursts into the future with a visionary view of how we are all playing together, every human, every day. I truly love this book. * Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Happy and How They Can Change the World (2011), USA *
Can we win at the game of life? As Castronova writes with wisdom and humor, the game of life is not only about winning and losing, victories and defeats, but most of all why we play the game. For pleasure? Excellence? Faith? No matter what our life goal, Castronova brings strategic lessons learned from the field of game design and his own experience in the game of life to help us choose the kinds of games we play, and how to play hard for our victory conditions, quest, thrive, and win. * Joshua A.T. Fairfield, William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law, USA *
Table of ContentsIntroduction a. Stances and the Strategic Layer b. Concepts and Examples c. Is there a Game Designer? d. Life’s Important; So Are Games e. We Can Only Write From Who We Are
Part I: The Strategic Turn 1. Why Do Great Thinkers Keep Saying That Life is a Game? a. The Many Similarities Between Living, Gaming, and Playing b. Focus: Four Books that Come Close to Life, the Game i. Hugo Rahner:
Man at Play (1967/1949) ii. Bernard Suits:
The Grasshopper (1978) iii. Michel de Certeau:
The Practice of Everyday Life (1984) iv. James Carse:
Finite and Infinite Games (1987) c. What is the Game of Life, Really? d. The Present Moment: An Insufferable Boredom e. How Game Design Responds to Boredom
2.The Environment of Decision a. The natural world b. Meaning and mind c. Boredom and Suffering d. The Immaterial World
3. Is this a game? a. First features of the game of everything i. Life as an idle game ii. Life as Minesweeper iii. Life as Role-Playing Game b. What explains the similarity of life to a game? c. How game design illuminates social processes d. How to play
4. The Strategic Layer a. Layers b. Strategy and tactics c. The strategic layer d. On victory conditions e. Operational goals
5. Stances a. Choosing stances b. Four strategic comments about philosophical commitments c. How to evaluate a stance d. How stances change
Part II. A Catalog of Stances 6. The Hedonistic Stance a. Commitments b. Victory conditions c. Strategies d. Assessment
7. The Excellence Stance a. Commitments b. Victory conditions c. Strategies d. Assessment
8. The Heroic Stance a. Commitments b. Victory conditions c. Strategies d. Assessment
9. The Orthodox Stance a. Commitments b. Victory conditions c. Strategies d. Assessment
10. The Mystic Stance a. Commitments b. Victory conditions c. Strategies d. Assessment
Part III. Conclusion Bibliography Index
