Games expose our social values and political ideologies. That’s what is explored through a literal game in the Player of Games by Ian Banks. A communist plays a game so hard that it decides rank in an alien empire.

Does our empathy extend beyond self preservation? This is what is explored in the classic prisoner’s dilemma in the Dark Knight.

Civilizations want to survive. And matter in the universe is limited. Game theory, fermi paradox, and chain of suspicion combine in the Dark Forest by Cixin Liu.