Superbetter

A remarkable life plan based on the game the author herself and hundreds of thousands of others have used to leap from trauma and setbacks to recovery and personal growth You are stronger than you know. You are surrounded by potential allies. You are a hero to others. These three qualities are all it takes to become more resilient in the face of any challenge. SuperBetter will show you that accessing this power is as easy as playing a game. In 2009, game designer and author Jane McGonigal got a bad concussion that wouldn't heal. She became anxious and depressed, even suicidal--a common symptom for concussion sufferers. But rather than let herself sink further, she decided to get better by doing what she does best: she turned her recovery process into a game. The game became a blog. The blog became a digital game, then an online portal and a major research study, then a TED talk with 4.5 million views. Today more than 250,000 people have played SuperBetter. But the ideas behind SuperBetter are much bigger than the game: we can cultivate the same powers of recovery and resilience simply by applying its core concepts in everyday life, by being "gameful" in the face of stress. Being gameful means bringing the psychological strengths you naturally display when you play games--such as optimism, creativity, courage, and determination--to real world situations. SuperBetter the book integrates seven basic rules into challenges the reader can undertake while reading, and explains the science behind the benefits. Playing by the seven rules begins to yield life-changing benefits in a matter of days, and eventually they become an ingrained skillset. As inspiring as it is down-to-earth, SuperBetter is self-help for the rest of us. Grounded in rigorous research and powered by game design, it is nothing less than an accessible, real-time guide to living a better life.

An innovative guide to living gamefully, based on the program that has already helped nearly half a million people achieve remarkable personal growth In 2009, internationally renowned game designer Jane McGonigal suffered a severe concussion. Unable to think clearly or work or even get out of bed, she became anxious and depressed, even suicidal. But rather than let herself sink further, she decided to get better by doing what she does best: she turned her recovery process into a resilience-building game. What started as a simple motivational exercise quickly became a set of rules for “post-traumatic growth” that she shared on her blog. These rules led to a digital game and a major research study with the National Institutes of Health. Today nearly half a million people have played SuperBetter to get stronger, happier, and healthier. But the life-changing ideas behind SuperBetter are much bigger than just one game. In this book, McGonigal reveals a decade’s worth of scientific research into the ways all games—including videogames, sports, and puzzles—change how we respond to stress, challenge, and pain. She explains how we can cultivate new powers of recovery and resilience in everyday life simply by adopting a more “gameful” mind-set. Being gameful means bringing the same psychological strengths we naturally display when we play games—such as optimism, creativity, courage, and determination—to real-world goals. Drawing on hundreds of studies, McGonigal shows that getting superbetter is as simple as tapping into the three core psychological strengths that games help you build: • Your ability to control your attention, and therefore your thoughts and feelings • Your power to turn anyone into a potential ally, and to strengthen your existing relationships • Your natural capacity to motivate yourself and super-charge your heroic qualities, like willpower, compassion, and determination SuperBetter contains nearly 100 playful challenges anyone can undertake in order to build these gameful strengths. It includes stories and data from people who have used the SuperBetter method to get stronger in the face of illness, injury, and other major setbacks, as well as to achieve goals like losing weight, running a marathon, and finding a new job. As inspiring as it is down to earth, and grounded in rigorous research, SuperBetter is a proven game plan for a better life. You’ll never say that something is “just a game” again.

World-renowned future forecaster, game designer, and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Jane McGonigal gives us the tools to imagine the future without fear. How can we be confident about making plans? How might we feel secure despite the future being unknown? How do we learn to feel at peace with the unexpected? Today it feels more challenging than ever to feel unafraid, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures. By learning to think the unthinkable and imagine the unimaginable you can better plan for a future you'd like to see. And by seeing what's coming faster, you can adapt to new challenges, reduce anxiety, and build hope and resilience. 'An accessible, optimistic field guide to the future.'-San Francisco Chronicle 'Jane McGonigal is unusually adept at anticipating events that most of us can't even fathom. In this eye-opening, actionable book, she teaches you how to widen your peripheral vision, extend your imagination farther into the future, and conceive of the inconceivable.' Adam Grant, #1 Bestselling Author of Think Again __________ 'Top 10 innovators to watch' Business Week 10 most powerful women to watch' Forbes 'Top 100 creative people in business' Fast Company

“McGonigal is a clear, methodical writer, and her ideas are well argued. Assertions are backed by countless psychological studies.” —The Boston Globe “Powerful and provocative . . . McGonigal makes a persuasive case that games have a lot to teach us about how to make our lives, and the world, better.” —San Jose Mercury News “Jane McGonigal's insights have the elegant, compact, deadly simplicity of plutonium, and the same explosive force.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother A visionary game designer reveals how we can harness the power of games to boost global happiness. With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Jane McGonigal asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking book, she shows how we can leverage the power of games to fix what is wrong with the real world-from social problems like depression and obesity to global issues like poverty and climate change-and introduces us to cutting-edge games that are already changing the business, education, and nonprofit worlds. Written for gamers and non-gamers alike, Reality Is Broken shows that the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games. Jane McGonigal is also the author of SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient.

FEATURING: IAN BOGOST - LEIGH ALEXANDER - ZOE QUINN - ANITA SARKEESIAN & KATHERINE CROSS - IAN SHANAHAN - ANNA ANTHROPY - EVAN NARCISSE - HUSSEIN IBRAHIM - CARA ELLISON & BRENDAN KEOGH - DAN GOLDING - DAVID JOHNSTON - WILLIAM KNOBLAUCH - MERRITT KOPAS - OLA WIKANDER The State of Play is a call to consider the high stakes of video game culture and how our digital and real lives collide. Here, video games are not hobbies or pure recreation; they are vehicles for art, sex, and race and class politics. The sixteen contributors are entrenched—they are the video game creators themselves, media critics, and Internet celebrities. They share one thing: they are all players at heart, handpicked to form a superstar roster by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson, the authors of the bestselling Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus "Notch" Persson and the Game that Changed Everything. The State of Play is essential reading for anyone interested in what may well be the defining form of cultural expression of our time. "If you want to explain to anyone why videogames are worth caring about, this is a single volume primer on where we are, how we got here and where we're going next. In every way, this is the state of play." —Kieron Gillen, author of The Wicked + the Divine, co-founder of Rock Paper Shotgun

Create authentic-looking maps of fantasy cities, hamlets, fortifications and more in a popular tabletop, RPG style. • 30+ step-by-step demonstrations show you how to create your own unique RPG maps • Learn how to draw fantasy cities, medieval settlements and more from a professional gaming illustrator • Tips and techniques for drawing fences, stone walls, forests, fields, bridges, footpaths, mountains, harbors, shields, coats of arms and other cartography elements Put your design and drawing skills on the map!

Fjord Stone's early years to life in this all-new hardcover Critical Role graphic novel! Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc” Wyatt, writers for the Amazon Original animated series Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina, join fan-favorite artist Selina Espiritu, colorist Diana Sousa, letterer Ariana Maher, and Matthew Mercer and Travis Willingham from the cast of Critical Role to bring Fjord’s early years to life in this all-new hardcover graphic novel! More than just an orcish face! Growing up in an orphanage on the Menagerie Coast, Fjord Stone has never been comfortable with the assumptions people draw from his half-orc heritage. But his sweet, sensitive nature will do him no favors in Port Damali. Luckily, a chance encounter on the docks lands Fjord with a job, a mentor, and more adventure than he could ever dream of on the path that will eventually lead him to the rest of the Mighty Nein!

A beautiful oversized hardcover showcasing all of the characters you know and love from the hit game series Kingdom Hearts! Explore the Disney-filled world of Kingdom Hearts with this in depth look into the beloved characters from the most popular games in the series. In addition to highlighting each character's evolving appearance and unique costumes, this tome illuminates the entire cast's back stories and retells their adventures from across the beloved series. This volume offers unprecedented insights into the lore behind the games! Dark Horse Books, Square Enix, and Disney present Kingdom Hearts Character Files. Officially localized into English for the first time ever, this is a must-own item for any fan of Disney or the Kingdom Hearts series!