The Greatest Books of All Time on Games

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
348 The Glass Bead Game Hermann Hesse 1943 German German
449 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
3475 Патиланско царство Ran Bosilek 1923 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3638 Homo Ludens Johan Huizinga 1938 Dutch Dutch
4291 Finite And Infinite Games James P. Carse 1986 American English
4680 The Paul Street Boys Ferenc Molnár 1906 Hungarian Hungarian
5618 The Westing Game Ellen Raskin 1978 American English
6846 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
8945 Wolf in White Van John Darnielle 2014 American English
9316 Hamlet On The Holodeck Janet H. Murray 1997 American English
10308 Street Games Rosellen Brown 1974 American English
10308 Man, Play And Games Roger Caillois 1958 French French
11518 The Dare Game Jacqueline Wilson 2000 British English
11520 Spelunky Derek Yu 2015 American English
11631 Death By Video Game Simon Parkin 2015 British English
11661 Videogames For Humans Merritt Kopas 2015 Unknown English
12442 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee 1962 American English
13500 Jerusalem Plays Hide And Seek Ariella Deem 2021 Unknown Unknown
14072 The Girl Who Played Go Shan Sa 2001 Chinese French
14232 Jumanji Chris Van Allsburg 1981 American English
14875 The Real Mother Goose Blanche Fisher Wright 1916 American English
14985 The Player Of Games Iain Banks 1988 Scottish English
17161 Caraval Stephanie Garber 2017 American English
17161 The Ultimate History Of Video Games Steven L. Kent 2001 American English
17161 Levels Of The Game John McPhee 1969 American English
17161 Mass Effect Drew Karpyshyn 2010 Canadian English