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Title: Playing Politics: The Nightmare Continues by Michael Laver ISBN: 0-19-285321-X Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: November, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: Not a Nightmare, But a Really Odd Dream
Comment: 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.

Rating: 5
Summary: Fantastic!
Comment: 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!!

Rating: 5
Summary: Insightful practical introduction to politics
Comment: 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!