The Game Changers : How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Author: Clare, Tim

Social & cultural history

Published on 28 August 2025 by Canongate Books in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 256 pages
197 x 129 x 19 | 180g

Why is playing games a universal human instinct?And how can those games make your life happier, healthier and more fulfilled?

In this fascinating look at games through the ages, Tim Clare explores how, through play, we become fully ourselves. From Roman anti-cheating devices to organised crime card syndicates, from Pokémon's world domination to 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.