Book cover of Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames

Book description

A cultural history of digital gameplay that investigates a wide range of player behavior, including cheating, and its relationship to the game industry.

The widely varying experiences of players of digital games challenge the notions that there is only one correct way to play a game. Some players routinely use…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Cheating as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is one of the foundational books in game studies and will shake up how you think about why and how people play games.

Consalvo introduces a concept called ‘avatar capital,’ which is about the reputation and relative fame players can chase within a game and its community. To acquire that capital, players often remake rules and expectations to excel.

This book helped shape how I see games.

From Christopher's list on understanding games.

If you love Cheating...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Cheating?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 92 books like Cheating.

Browse books like Cheating

Book cover of Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Book cover of Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming
Book cover of Replay: the History of Video Games

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Cheating, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

5 book lists we think you will like!