- Mass Market Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Cover Worn, Pages Water Damaged edition (22 Nov 1979)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140222286
- ISBN-13: 978-0140222289
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 1.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,563,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
This is a collection of games based on politics. From games such as "Agenda" and "Coalitions" to three-sided soccer, the reader is shown how to fight elections, overthrow governments, and make deals, all with the object of winning or holding on to power. The double-dealing is designed to mirror real-life political situations. In both the world of politics and the world of games, outcomes are decided by calculated interactions between the players as they balance team tactics against self-interest, weigh up the risks, or use their bargaining power. The games can be played by anyone, and during play the players can experience the complexity of real politics. To play the games the requirements are: money (real or otherwise), forfeits and rewards, packs of playing cards, badges, a timer (for example, an egg-timer), and a blackboard/white-board or large score-sheet. Optional items include: music, lighting, and costume.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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3 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Not a Nightmare, But a Really Odd Dream
27 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mixing rules for about a dozen games, observations on parallels between game playing and real world politics, propaganda for the glories of Proportional Representation, and punk-leftist atmospherics, "Playing Politics" is a strange brew indeed. Imagine a feverish reverie in which Sid Sackson, Al Gore and Hunter Thompson merge into a single figure, and you will have about the right idea.
The games hold the book together and are the only reason for buying it. There are many better treatises on political behavior, and one who is so inclined can read Thompson without an intermediary. There are also better collections of original games, but this one, though uneven, is not bad. It is particularly noteworthy for filling the neglected niche for "strategic" (non-luck, non-Trivial Pursuit) party games. (I can't think of a previous good example of that genre except for Sid Sackson's "Haggle".)
Several of the rules sets smell of classroom exercises and would sink any party quickly, but others look like they could be fun with adequate preparation. The most promising are "Agenda" (based on manipulating procedural rules to gain substantive ends; I "play-tested" a variant at a science fiction convention, and it went over quite well), "Coalition Poker" and "Killer Darts". "Candidate" is a possibility for a very casual evening, while a more serious crowd may like "Elections" and "Coalitions" (or their combined version, where winning requires skill at both winning office and getting the most out of it). "Coalition Soccer" is an interesting concept but probably can't be played, if only due to the shortage of triangular fields. Even the not-really-playable efforts do, however, feature interesting ideas and mechanics that others may be able to put to better use.
As for the didactic commentary that accompanies the games, readers who are thoroughly out of sympathy with Professor Laver's views can easily sequester and ignore it. What they don't ignore may perplex them. It is odd, for instance, that an author whose credits include a book on coalition government seems so puzzled by how coalitions work. He notes that, in his game on the topic, partners tend to split the "Trough" more or less equally, because each, regardless of its relative quantitative power, is equally crucial to forming a majority. Real coalitions don't work that way, and Professor Laver offers only a lame attempt to explain the discrepancy. His fumbling undercuts his insistent and supercilious plugging for PR, of which coalitions are an inescapable corollary. What would one think of a right-wing free marketeer who had trouble with the principles of supply and demand?
Notwithstanding its oddness, this book is a worthwhile purchase for ardent gamers, for hosts and hostesses whose ambitions rise above Charades, for closet Reiner Knizias, and, let us not forget, for those who believe that Proportional Representation is the one true path to salvation.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Insightful practical introduction to politics
15 Aug 1999
Format:Paperback
I bought a used copy of the 1979 edition of this book in 1982 and have wanted to buy extra copies of it ever since to give to friends who want to understand how different structures of voting and political deal-making affect who wins and who loses. For example, the book shows why forms of democratic politics inherently reward candidates who make vague promises over candidates who announce specific policy intentions. Buy it!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Fantastic!
11 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
This work is both a useful resource for those using game theory to understand politics and for those who are simply looking for better games to play (including killer darts, three-team soccer, poker without cards, etc.) Excellent!!
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