The most popular, most famous, most mentioned exemplar in game theory, especially in the social sciences, is the ‘Prisoners’ Dilemma’ – which is actually a predicament, rather than a dilemma. Two men – all we know is their gender – charged with a joint violation of the law, are held separately by the police. Each is told that, if one confesses and the other does not, the former will be given a reward of one unit and the latter will be fined two units; if both confess, each will be fined one unit; if neither confesses, both will go free. Each of the two suffers less by confessing, but if they could reach a binding agreement they would clearly agree not to confess. As originally presented in an unpublished note by Albert Tucker and, usually, followed faithfully by game-theoretic analysts, all we know – as noted – is their gender. It usually follows, at least by implication, that both confess, contrary to their joint interest. I argue here, however, that we cannot conclude that the two are likely to confess. My argument will be simply that we do not know what they know and cannot predict what they will decide.

There is nothing more important than good brain health and wellbeing throughout our lives. Yet, while many people are concerned with their physical health and utilise wearable technology and mobile devices to monitor their exercise, steps, heart rate, and so forth, we are not yet using technology to enhance our brain health and wellbeing. In this chapter, we discuss how neuroscientists can work together with other experts in game development, IT, and computing to develop enjoyable games for enhancing cognition, such as memory. In addition, we discuss how we can use games to improve cognition, motivation, and the ability to function in daily life for people with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. Everyone likes to play games, so why not play one that is fun and good for your brain?

Politics was described by Aristotle as ‘of, for, or relating to citizens’. In more modern terms, the definition of politics is ‘the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power’. But is the practice of politics really about providing for the citizen, as envisaged in the Greek meaning, or has the game of politics become an end in itself? And, in the game of politics, is winning the ultimate aim, even if this requires sacrifice of principles?

During my years leading British Cycling and subsequently Team Sky, I have been fortunate enough to observe a remarkable ascent for the sport in the UK, at both elite and grassroots levels. I have been fascinated throughout by the game-playing that goes into such success. In this chapter, I discuss the games – particularly the games of the mind – that underpin Olympic medals and Grand Tour victories.

Wittgenstein twice thought that he had solved all the problems of philosophy, by explaining how language acquires meaning. The first time, he said that it does so by its relation to the world; the second time, by its relation to itself. To this second suggestion, the concept of ‘games’ is central. In this chapter, I explain and discuss Wittgenstein’s contributions both to the substance and to the ethics of the philosophy of language with ‘games’ focally in view.

The failed British military campaigns in Basra and Helmand followed similar courses. They began confidently, followed by defeat in the field and US military bail-out. The enemies of UK forces now dominate both theatres. British generals prided themselves on their prowess in exactly the kind of conflicts they thought they had entered – ‘counterinsurgency’. How, then, did they go so wrong? Before an army becomes involved in conflict, it should fully understand the kind of war it is going to be, what it wants to achieve by it, and how the war will achieve those ends. British generals failed to ensure clarity on any of these questions and had no workable strategy. Furthermore, they lacked a corporate culture and flexibility to understand and adapt to the environments in which they found themselves and defaulted to methods for which they were trained. The lack of a sound intelligence system and consequent situational naïveté allowed their enemies to gain and retain the initiative. However, whilst there is a long way to go, there are signs that UK military leadership is developing the necessary skills and awareness to conduct successful operations.

The study of games is the study of social interaction in the face of different incentive structures. In this introductory chapter to our volume, we discuss the spectrum of conflict, competition, and cooperation that those incentives can entail. We also summarise the contributions of each of the volume’s distinguished authors, and locate those contributions in the histories of science and society.

In the final paragraph of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin leaves us with the vision of Nature as an ‘entangled bank’, where individuals struggle to survive and reproduce in a world of competitors, predators, and parasites. In this chapter, I explore the games animals play in these struggles. Some are behavioural games, resulting in an extraordinary mix of cooperation and conflict in animal families, where sexual partners and parents and their offspring sometimes help one another, but sometimes cheat. Some are games played over evolutionary time, where strategies escalate over the generations between competitors, and between enemies and their victims, leading to extremes, not only in weaponry and cruelty, but in ornamentation and beauty, too. I illustrate these themes especially with examples of mating games in birds and evolutionary arms races between cuckoos and their hosts, to show how the rules of the games can be unravelled by a combination of bird watching and field experiments.

The criminal justice process has often been compared to a ‘game’: the ‘games’ lawyers play, for example, or the various ‘games’ played by prisoners or prison psychologists. It is always other people who are playing games ... This chapter will explore current trial processes and sentencing processes in England and Wales by comparing them with traditional games: in what sense is a trial like a game of ‘Blind Man’s Buff’? Why does progressing through the prison system feel for many prisoners like a game of ‘Snakes and Ladders’? Of course, none of these processes really feels like a game to the principal players. But the analogies can throw fresh light on how we should evaluate the effectiveness of our criminal justice system.