The animals ask each other what game they should play, but only Owl has an answer.

The animals ask each other what game they should play, but only Owl has an answer.

The animals ask each other what game they should play, but only Owl has an answer.

“There are at least two kinds of games,” states James P. Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. “One could be called finite; the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.” Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play. The rules may change, the boundaries may change, even the participants may change—as long as the game is never allowed to come to an end. What are infinite games? How do they affect the ways we play our finite games? What are we doing when we play—finitely or infinitely? And how can infinite games affect the ways in which we live our lives? Carse explores these questions with stunning elegance, teasing out of his distinctions a universe of observation and insight, noting where and why and how we play, finitely and infinitely. He surveys our world—from the finite games of the playing field and playing board to the infinite games found in culture and religion—leaving all we think we know illuminated and transformed. Along the way, Carse finds new ways of understanding everything, from how an actress portrays a role to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory, but infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander. Carse has written a book rich in insight and aphorism. Already an international literary event, Finite and Infinite Games is certain to be argued about and celebrated for years to come. Reading it is the first step in learning to play the infinite game.

This charming story celebrates the magic of playtime and invites us to pretend with Matt, Martha & Lily May Matt wants to play trees. Martha wants to play cars--but Lily May wants to play fairies! She has wings and a wand--but will Lily ever get her wish?

The architectural awareness and experience of space, and the creative use can profit greatly from certain aspects of "games" and the related technology. Here the author investigates a fascinating contribution of avant-garde art to the construction of space in the field of electronic games and arcades, beginning with New Babylon, moving through the radical suggestions of the 1960s and 1970s to the commercial and experimental examples of contemporary amusement arcades. Also considered are the virtual worlds of video games which are growing increasingly complex. The book reveals in a critical yet impressive way how important the element of "play" has become in today's digital architectonic designs. The Italian architect Alberto Iacovoni is one of the founding members of the Studio maO which specializes on architecture and media. He is also a member of the office for urban planning, Stalker.