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You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments, and Schools Use Games to Control Us All

You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments, and Schools Use Games to Control Us All

by Adrian Hon

Basic Books ·2022 ·320 pages
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
43/99
Bottom of the Pile

22/99

Critics' Rating Index

Maybe Someday

25/99

Readers' Rating Index

Top of the Pile

83/99

Scholars' Citation Index

51/99

Volume of Reviews

18/99

Volume of Reader Ratings

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About This Book

How games are being harnessed as instruments of exploitation—and what we can do about it Warehouse workers pack boxes while a virtual dragon races across their screen. If they beat their colleagues, they get an award. If not, they can be fired. Uber presents exhausted drivers with challenges to keep them driving. China scores its citizens so they behave well, and games with in-app purchases use achievements to empty your wallet. Points, badges, and leaderboards are creeping into every aspect of modern life. In You've Been Played , game designer Adrian Hon delivers a blistering takedown of how corporations, schools, and governments use games and gamification as tools for profit and coercion. These are games that we often have no choice but to play, where losing has heavy penalties. You've Been Played is a scathing indictment of a tech-driven world that wants to convince us that misery is fun, and a call to arms for anyone who hopes to preserve their dignity and autonomy.


Reviews

"An expansive view of how gamification permeates modern culture that lacks a strong conclusion."

Tina Panik· Library Journal Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"This passionate survey is a wake-up call for workers and political leaders alike."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"For all his caution, he believes in ethical gaming ..."

Rhoda Feng· The New Republic Read review ↗ Near the Top

"You've Been Played is at its sharpest when Hon dresses down lazy or coercive gamification ..."

Alexandria Symonds· The New York Times Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Anyone in the tech world and human resources will find this book helpful in making decisions about gamification."

Jennifer Adams· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

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