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The Game Changers

How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

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The Game Changers

By: Tim Clare
Narrated by: Tim Clare
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About this listen

'The best book on games I've read in years' G.T. KARBER, the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of MURDLE

'Clare is a fabulous tour guide through the history of table games' Tom Brewster, presenter of
Shut Up & Sit Down

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?

The history of board games is really the history of human civilisation. Through it we see how our species has learned to live with one another, make deals, take on different roles and manage the ups and downs of luck.

In this entertaining and thought-provoking look at games through the ages, 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 to discover how, through play, we become fully ourselves.

Drawing on Roman anti-cheating devices, organised crime card syndicates and the combative domestic bonding ritual of Monopoly, The Game Changers explains why games are more popular now than ever, and how playing them helps us learn to be better losers, make smarter decisions and become more human.

©2024 Tim Clare (P)2024 Canongate Books Ltd
Social Sciences Game
All stars
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This book covers games from Senet and The Royal Game of Ur to Warhammer, Magic, Catan, D&D, and LARP and puts them in context covering war, slavery, capitalism, cultural exchanges, autism, and more. It has joyful bits and sad bits and is extremely human. Everyone should read it.

A look at the breadth of humanity through the lens of games

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Fascinating whistlestop tour of games through history and how important they might be for our wellbeing.

The humanity of games

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