Humans have been playing games for thousands of years. Archeological proof from various ancient civilizations confirms that "wherever humans settled, games became necessities of life." By tracing the history of seven games—checkers, backgammon, chess, Go, poker, Scrabble, and bridge—Oliver Roeder reveals that our human psyche enjoys complexity, noting how we voluntarily submit ourselves to overcome unnecessary obstacles, concluding that play is, and always has been, necessary. This carefully researched exploration, which incorporates psychology, emerging artificial intelligence (our desire to outsmart ourselves), archeology, and game theory, is ingenious and loads of fun.