Two MIT economists show how game theory--the ultimate theory of rationality--explains irrational behavior We like to think of ourselves as rational. This idea is the foundation for classical economic analysis of human behavior, including the awesome achievements of game theory. But as behavioral economics shows, most behavior doesn't seem rational at all--which, unfortunately, to cast doubt on game theory's real-world credibility. In Hidden Games, Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli find a surprising middle ground between the hyperrationality of classical economics and the hyper-irrationality of behavioral economics. They call it hidden games. Reviving game theory, Hoffman and Yoeli use it to explain our most puzzling behavior, from the mechanics of Stockholm syndrome and internalized misogyny to why we help strangers and have a sense of fairness. Fun and powerfully insightful, Hidden Games is an eye-opening argument for using game theory to explain all the irrational things we think, feel, and do.

Design great Facebook, iOS, and Web games and learn from the experts what makes a game a hit! This invaluable resource shows how to put into action the proven design and marketing techniques from the industry's best game designers, who all started on a small scale. The book walks novice and experienced game designers through the step-by-step process of conceptualizing, designing, launching, and managing a winning game on platforms including Facebook, iOS, and the Web. The book is filled with examples that highlight key design features, explain how to market your game, and illustrate how to turn your design into a money-making venture. Provides an overview of the most popular game platforms and shows how to design games for each Contains the basic principles of game design that will help promote growth and potential to generate revenue Includes interviews with top independent game developers who reveal their success secrets Offers an analysis of future trends that can open (or close) opportunities for game designers Game Design Secrets provides aspiring game designers a process for planning, designing, marketing, and ultimately making money from new games.

Winner of the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing The true story of the game that never should have happened--and of a nation on the brink of monumental change In the fall of 1943, at the little-known North Carolina College for Negroes, Coach John McLendon was on the verge of changing basketball forever. A protégé of James Naismith, the game's inventor, McLendon taught his team to play the full-court press and run a fast break that no one could catch. His Eagles would become the highest-scoring college team in America--a basketball juggernaut that shattered its opponents by as many as sixty points per game. Yet his players faced danger whenever they traveled backcountry roads. Across town, at Duke University, the best basketball squad on campus wasn't the Blue Devils, but an all-white military team from the Duke medical school. Composed of former college stars from across the country, the team dismantled everyone they faced, including the Duke varsity. They were prepared to take on anyone--until an audacious invitation arrived, one that was years ahead of anything the South had ever seen before. What happened next wasn't on anyone's schedule. Based on years of research, The Secret Game is a story of courage and determination, and of an incredible, long-buried moment in the nation's sporting past. The riveting, true account of a remarkable season, it is the story of how a group of forgotten college basketball players, aided by a pair of refugees from Nazi Germany and a group of daring student activists, not only blazed a trail for a new kind of America, but helped create one of the most meaningful moments in basketball history.

Solve every puzzle, just like the Secret Seven, in this fun book of 100 brain-teasers inspired by Enid Blyton's famous sleuths. Perfect for travel and holidays. Bursting with codes, puzzles, sudokos, crosswords, wordsearches, I-spy games and more, this fun book is inspired by the mystery-solving kids in the bestselling Secret Seven stories by Enid Blyton. This is the perfect book to keep kids busy on long journeys or in the holidays, anywhere, any time. No need to stare at a screen or hunt for a charger - you'll only need a pencil and your brain for hours of entertainment. * The Secret Seven®, Enid Blyton ® and Enid Blyton's signature are Registered Trademarks of Hodder and Stoughton Limited. No trademark or copyrighted material may be reproduced without the express written permission of the trademark and copyright owner.

How filling life with play-whether soccer or lawn mowing, counting sheep or tossing Angry Birds -- forges a new path for creativity and joy in our impatient age Life is boring: filled with meetings and traffic, errands and emails. Nothing we'd ever call fun. But what if we've gotten fun wrong? In Play Anything, visionary game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost shows how we can overcome our daily anxiety; transforming the boring, ordinary world around us into one of endless, playful possibilities. The key to this playful mindset lies in discovering the secret truth of fun and games. Play Anything, reveals that games appeal to us not because they are fun, but because they set limitations. Soccer wouldn't be soccer if it wasn't composed of two teams of eleven players using only their feet, heads, and torsos to get a ball into a goal; Tetris wouldn't be Tetris without falling pieces in characteristic shapes. Such rules seem needless, arbitrary, and difficult. Yet it is the limitations that make games enjoyable, just like it's the hard things in life that give it meaning. Play is what happens when we accept these limitations, narrow our focus, and, consequently, have fun. Which is also how to live a good life. Manipulating a soccer ball into a goal is no different than treating ordinary circumstances- like grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and making PowerPoints-as sources for meaning and joy. We can "play anything" by filling our days with attention and discipline, devotion and love for the world as it really is, beyond our desires and fears. Ranging from Internet culture to moral philosophy, ancient poetry to modern consumerism, Bogost shows us how today's chaotic world can only be tamed-and enjoyed-when we first impose boundaries on ourselves.

Meet Maximus Todd! He's the kid who can't sit still! Clever Max invents a game to keep his Super Fidgets at bay for the day. Too bad his arch enemy Mandy Beth discovers what he's up to and tries to trip him up! Will Max win at his secret game? Max finds that while it's not always easy being a kid -- especially if you're a bit different -- there is often humour, kindness and love in the most unexpected places.

"Did you know that every time you pick up the controller to your PlayStation or Xbox, you are entering a game world steeped in mathematics? Power-Up reveals the hidden mathematics in many of today's most popular video games and explains why mathematical learning doesn't just happen in the classroom or from books--you're doing it without even realizing it when you play games on your cell phone. In this lively and entertaining book, Matthew Lane discusses how gamers are engaging with the traveling salesman problem when they play Assassin's Creed, why it is mathematically impossible for Mario to jump through the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Bros., and how The Sims teaches us the mathematical costs of maintaining relationships. He looks at mathematical pursuit problems in classic games like Missile Command and Ms. Pac-Man, and how each time you play Tetris, you're grappling with one of the most famous unsolved problems in all of mathematics and computer science. Along the way, Lane discusses why Family Feud and Pictionary make for ho-hum video games, how realism in video games (or the lack of it) influences learning, what video games can teach us about the mathematics of voting, the mathematics of designing video games, and much more. Power-Up shows how the world of video games is an unexpectedly rich medium for learning about the beautiful mathematical ideas that touch all aspects of our lives--including our virtual ones."--Dust jacket.