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The Game Changers

How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Tim Clare

$24.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English
Canongate Books
25 November 2025
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?

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.

From Roman anti-cheating devices to organised crime card syndicates, from Pokemon'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.
By:  
Imprint:   Canongate Books
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Edition:   Main
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 15mm
Weight:   180g
ISBN:   9781837260935
ISBN 10:   1837260931
Pages:   256
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming

Tim Clare is an award-winning writer, poet and creative-writing podcaster. He is the author of We Can't All Be Astronauts and Coward, and the novels The Honours and The Ice House. He has performed his work at festivals and clubs across the world, on BBC TV and radio. Tim has also written for the Guardian, Times, Independent and Big Issue, and presents the creative-writing podcast Death Of 1,000 Cuts. @timclarepoet | timclarepoet.co.uk

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

Brilliant and hilarious. The best book on games I've read in years -- G.T. KARBER, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of MURDLE A deep, poetic dive into game-playing and its role in human society and mental health. Table-top games are examined and celebrated, from dice to Monopoly to Pokémon -- JANICE HALLETT, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE APPEAL Tim Clare, taking on the role of author and games master, plays his pieces well in The Game Changers...an engaging exploration -- CAROLINE EDEN Let me tell you, this book is a love letter. It's infectious -- IVAN BRETT from THE TRAITORS Tim Clare is a fabulous tour guide through the history of table games . . . Rich with enticing origin stories [The Game Changers] has a phenomenally broad scope . . . Exceptional -- TOM BREWSTER, Shut Up & Sit Down A warm, enthusiastic survey of games . . . filled with personal anecdotes and almost romantic scenes of gameplay among friends and family members * * Spectator * * Digs into all sorts of unexpected corners and startling histories, always coming back to the real physical and emotional experiences of play. It's an absolute delight to read, charming and chatty, overflowing with insight into why we love games, and beautifully researched, with anecdotes ranging from the familiar to the forgotten and everywhere in between -- HOLLY GRAMAZIO A delightful love letter to tabletop games and the joy of play, from ancient times to today, with plenty of poignant, heartfelt turns. Bask in it! -- MATT FORBECK, New York Times-bestselling author of MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA Praise for Coward: Fascinating, thought-provoking, vulnerable and generous -- CATHY RENTZENBRINK This is the best book I've ever read on anxiety, health and being an anxious person on this planet . . . [a] gift of a book -- EMMA GANNON


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