Games People Play

PART II 
A Thesaurus of Games 
Introduction 
THIS collection is complete to date (1962), but new games are continually being discovered. 
Sometimes what appears to be another example of a known game turns out, on more careful study, 
to be an entirely new one, and a game which appears to be new often turns out to be a variation of a 
known one. The individual items of the analyses are also subject to change as new knowledge 
accumulates; for example, where there are several possible choices in describing dynamics, the 
statement given may turn out later not to have been the most cogent one. Both the list of games and 
the items given in the analyses, however, are adequate for clinical work. 
Some of the games are discussed and analyzed in extenso. Others, which require more investigation, 
or are uncommon, or whose significance is fairly obvious, are only briefly mentioned. The one who 
is "it" is generally referred to as the "agent," or is given the name of "White," while the other party 
is called "Black." 
The games are classified into families according to the situations in which they most commonly 
occur: Life Games, Marital Games, Party Games, Sexual Games and Underworld Games; then 
comes a section for professionals on Consulting Room Games, and finally, some examples of Good 
Games. 
1 NOTATION 
The following notation will be used in the analytic protocols. 
Title
: If the game has a long name, a convenient abbreviation is used in the text. Where a game or 
its variations has more than one name, a cross reference will be found in the Index of Games. In 
oral reports it is preferable to use the full name of the game rather than its abbreviation or acronym. 
Thesis
: this is restated as cogently as possible. 
Aim
: this gives the most meaningful choice, based on die writer's experience.