For centuries, thinkers of all stripes have said that life is a game. What if that is true? What if life really is a game? What if our presence here is part of a vast and beautiful interactive machine?
Edward Castronova urges readers to think about the human condition in the same way that a player thinks about a game. So many of the mechanics we see in games are present in daily life, from role-playing and levelling up, to investing, diplomacy, and the sublime tension between the risk of loss and the thrill of victory.
What is 'victory,' though? We all have our own ideas about how to win this game. Some say the point is to feel good. Others say it is all about God, with Heaven as the win condition. However we envision our lives, game designs tells us how best to play. We decide what it means to win this game; game thinking tells us the most sensible way to do it.
Thus, though it is new, the field of game design has much to say about the fundamental questions of human existence. Philosophy asks why we are here. Game Design answers: To interact, to choose, to play.
Edward Castronovais 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.
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 l³Ã
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