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Playing to Win: Becoming the Champion
Winning at competitive games requires a results-oriented mindset that many players are simply not willing to adopt. This book walks players through the entire process: how to choose a game and learn basic proficiency, how to break through the mental barriers that hold most players back, and how to handle the issues that top players face. It also includes a complete analysis of Sun Tzu's book The Art of War and its applications to games of today. These foundational concepts apply to virtually all competitive games, and even have some application to real life.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2005
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April 30, 2018
A suitably meta theorycrafting on how to gitgud. Probably will go over the head of non-gamers. Liberally borrows concepts from 孙子兵法 and applies them to games (poker,starcraft, street fighter, chess). Related reading: George Leonard's Mastery is a more generally applicable book on excellence.
Line of most win: Building your life around any game is arguably a mistake, but I’ll pretend to ignore that point, as it sure helps when it comes to winning.
___
Games VS Life
The age-old question of how much, if any of this, applies to real life. I start out by defining the big differences between real life and games: games are sharply defined by rules; life is not. Exploring extreme “corner cases” of a game is what high-level play is about. Exploring extreme situations in life can easily be socially unacceptable, morally wrong, and illegal. Competitive games require military virtues: immediacy, emergency tactics, and the end (winning) justifies the means (as long as it’s through moves the game defines as legal). Real life requires civic virtues like kindness, understanding, justice, and mercy.
In pursing the path of winning, you are likely to learn that concentrating merely on beating the opponent is not enough. In the long run, you will have to improve yourself always, or you will be surpassed. The actual conflict appears to be between you and the opponents, but the best way to win is to bring to the table a mastery of playing to win and a mastery of the game at hand. These things are developed within you and are revealed to others only during conflict.
No matter the game, you must create an environment in which you can improve. You must practice against a wide range of opponents. You must free your mind from self-imposed rules that prevent you from winning. You must develop “mental toughness” and the ability to read the minds of your opponents. You must interact with a community of other players.
Another thing you will need is a lifestyle that will allow you to devote the time, money, and mental energy to playing your game. Since this is significant, you are well advised to play a game you find “fun” or at least to find “fun” in the competition or personal challenge of improving because building your life around a game that feels like “work” is a mistake. Building your life around any game is arguably a mistake, but I’ll pretend to ignore that point, as it sure helps when it comes to winning.
(Playing with) Beginners VS Experts
The idea is to use the beginners as a way to get an extraordinary amount of practice in the tactics that win the game in a short amount of time. The experts rarely allow such situations to arise, but when they do, you will need to capitalize on them professionally. When the opponent makes a fatal mistake, you need to be able to confidently take control of the game and win it. This act must be natural, something you’ve done a thousand times before.
The experts keep you honest. They remind you, “That was not a safe move. You cannot trick me with that. That will not stop my advances.” The expert also teaches you how to win, but presents only very few opportunities to practice winning. The beginner, on the other hand, will let you practice winning until it’s second nature. At that time, you must return to the experts.
The first step in becoming a top player is the realization that playing to win means doing whatever most increases your chances of winning. That is true by definition of playing to win. The game knows no rules of “honor” or of “cheapness.” The game only knows winning and losing.Innovation is merely one of many tools that may or may not help you reach victory. The goal is to play as excellently as possible. The goal is to win.
On Losing
Losing is part of the game. If you never lose, you are never truly tested, and never forced to grow. A loss is an opportunity to learn. But losing can be upsetting, and can cause emotions to take the place of logical thinking.
Losing to 'noobs' doesn't validate your loss. It makes you a bigger noob, and deprives you of the chance to learn from your mistakes.
Only the loser plays the part of the victim. The winner takes charge and actively seeks out improvement.
Non-technical edges - the "fear aura"
If your aim is to intimidate the opponent, then I am all for that. But there are polite, sportsman-like ways of doing this. The best way by far is to win tournaments. See what your next opponent thinks of you then. Just give him something as simple as a half-hearted glance and empty-sounding “good luck” before the match and he will probably fall over like a feather from your presence. When a player radiates a sense of total dominance at a game, I call this a “fear aura.” Once you develop your fear aura through excellent play and winning, you will laugh at the relatively ineffective notion of intimidating opponents with offensive verbal comments.
Nearly winning vs nearly losing
You must often employ different tactics when winning than when losing. When losing badly, you are often forced to choose only from high-risk options that have big enough payoffs to put you back into the game. When you are down several pieces in chess, you can no longer afford to grind the opponent down slowly, trading piece for piece. The further behind you are, the more imperative it becomes to find that bold combination that traps the enemy king directly. On the other hand, if you are winning by a huge amount in a fighting game, you would be wise to restrict yourself to unusually safe moves, giving the opponent no chance to come back.
Critical Moments
Critical moments are what you need to create and take advantage of when you’re losing. They are what you need to suppress and avoid when you are winning.
The state has principles to live by and precedents to set, but war is fierce and urgent. If you wish to win in battle, you must do immediately whatever is practical and effective.
Mental conditioning
Discipline is more than just skill at execution. There is also mental discipline: the ability to stay focused and conserve your limited resources of concentration, tenacity, alertness, and physical strength. Physical discipline is a factor, as it can determine how much endurance or alertness you have to work with in the first place, but mental discipline is what lets you stretch your resources as far as possible.
To conserve resources, develop a basic technique for winning. Against players who aren’t capable of overcoming your little algorithm, you can virtually play on autopilot.
Attacking by Fire
Sun Tzu spoke of using fire against the enemy, but he was driving at a fundamental tactic: attacking in parallel. One can set fire to an enemy building to drive him out into an ambush. One can set fire to one side of an enemy camp while taking up positions on the other side, again driving the enemy into an ambush. In all cases, the fire is basically used as an extra force of attackers. The fire cannot be reasoned with or bargained with or ignored. The fire has no mercy. While it serves the same function as a band of men would (to attack the enemy and drive him to action), the fire requires no manpower once it is started. It also finds its way inside a barracks without risking the lives of a squad. Because the fire acts independently, it allows a given group of men to apply more attacking force than would otherwise be possible.
Gaming examples include projectile attacks in fighting games, or grenades in Counter Strike.
Divide and Conquer
Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us. Knowing the place and time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.
In the context of Starcraft, minerals and gas are the two primary resources, but it is easy to overlook the third resource (not population) of concentration. Concentration is the time a player has to spend focusing on a task during a game. Fighting multiple fronts requires a good amount of concentration.
Yomi
In competitive games, there is little more valuable than knowing the mind of the opponent, which the Japanese call “yomi.” All the complicated decisions in game theory go away if you know exactly what the opponent will do next.
When you are facing high level opponents who are more skilled at seeing the moments than anyone you have ever faced, it becomes that much more important to break out of the textbook mold and throw some figurative sand in their eyes. If you can blind them to the moments they would normally see, you then have access to the large repertoire of intermediate moves and tactics that you thought you couldn’t use on the experts.
Preparation
In college, I used to say that the more you prepare for a final exam, the worse you’ll do. The reason is that if the final exam is mere days away and you need to cram for it then your battle is already lost. Despite your best efforts, it will be hard to compete against students who have developed a natural understanding of the material and have been able to think about it and mentally manipulate it over the semester. Gaming is not so different. Things learned at the last minute just aren’t as effective as things you’ve fully integrated into your play over a long period of time. If something requires physical dexterity, you’re much better off if it becomes deeply engrained in your muscle memory. If it’s a tactic, you’re much better off practicing it over time against a variety of opponents in order to gain a full, first-hand understanding of it. Basically, if you stay on your path of continuous self-improvement then you are prepared for a tournament.
Knowing your enemy is part of preparing for tournaments. Time and time again, I have seen new players who think they are very good claim that they would do well in tournaments, and they basically never do, at least not right away. Part of being good is being plugged into the tournament meta-game, and it’s extremely difficult, and in some games impossible, to simply develop skills in a vacuum then waltz in and win a tournament.
R&D
Playing to win and playing to learn are often at odds. If you play the game at hand to maximize your chances of winning, then you won’t take the unnecessary risks of trying out new tactics, counters, moves, patterns, or whatever. Playing it straight is the best way to win the game at hand, but at the cost of valuable information about the game that you may need later and valuable practice to expand your narrow repertoire of moves or tactics.
playing to win involves exploring. It involves trying several different approaches in a game to see which you are best at, which other players are best at, and which you think will end up being the most effective in the end.
The Karmic justice of it all is that love of the game really does count for something. Those who love the game play it to play it. They mess around. They pick strange characters, try strange tactics, face others who do the same, and they learn the secret knowledge. Those who play only to win can’t be bothered with any of that. Every minute they spend playing goes toward climbing their current peak, attaining their local maximum.
Conversely, continuing to be the best at a game you no longer love, or never loved, is a difficult and hazardous thing to attempt. Those who love the game will find an easier time sticking to it, improving, and giving it their time and thoughts. Even if you can keep up with them, devoting such a large part of your life to something you don’t love is going to create its own problems that will no doubt eventually lead to your downfall.
“Appraisal” or “Valuation” is the ability to judge the relative value of different pieces, moves, tactics, or strategies in a game. This might be the most important skill in competitive games. If Yomi is understanding the opponent, then Appraisal is understanding the game itself.
adept at judging the relative value of moves in a particular game situation.
Games require training, practice, and discipline. Having a love for what you’re doing really does help you. Games teach you to remain calm under the most dire of circumstances, and to never give up until your very last breath of life is spent. They teach you to learn from your mistakes, rather than shift the blame to others, because that is the only real way to improve. They teach that continuous self-improvement over time is the only way to survive.
There are many forms of expression in the world, but one of the advantages of competitive games is that they force you to test your worldview against the worldviews of others. It’s easy to develop highly unpopular theories about life in general that you have no real way of testing, but competitive games force you to jump in, get dirty, and see how those ideas really stack up. If you are an unconventional genius, you will prove so beyond all doubt. If you are a confused quack, that too will be borne out, and you will have the opportunity to learn from others and change your ways.
Competitive games teach you to focus on results.
Slaughterer (don't give chance) vs teacher (give chance)
Taking the Shadow’s approach (ruthlessness, playing at full skill level against all) will generally strengthen your own play skills, while taking the Vorlon’s approach (being nurturing to /going easy on new players) will generally weaken them. Teaching has its virtues, but it is often bad for the teacher.
The Teacher has several forces working against him. First, all the time he spends on helping weaker players could be spent playing against stronger players. Next, he can develop bad habits by using techniques on weaker players that would never work on stronger players. And what’s worse, he will not have even a fraction of the practice that the Slaughterer will have when it comes to “pushing as hard as you can for as long as you can.” The Teacher will often need to push just enough to challenge the student, giving them chances to learn this or that concept.
The virtues of the cold slaughterer: He’s the one pushing the envelope of play skills, which makes his contribution incredibly valuable, even if it is not often popular.
Line of most win: Building your life around any game is arguably a mistake, but I’ll pretend to ignore that point, as it sure helps when it comes to winning.
___
Games VS Life
The age-old question of how much, if any of this, applies to real life. I start out by defining the big differences between real life and games: games are sharply defined by rules; life is not. Exploring extreme “corner cases” of a game is what high-level play is about. Exploring extreme situations in life can easily be socially unacceptable, morally wrong, and illegal. Competitive games require military virtues: immediacy, emergency tactics, and the end (winning) justifies the means (as long as it’s through moves the game defines as legal). Real life requires civic virtues like kindness, understanding, justice, and mercy.
In pursing the path of winning, you are likely to learn that concentrating merely on beating the opponent is not enough. In the long run, you will have to improve yourself always, or you will be surpassed. The actual conflict appears to be between you and the opponents, but the best way to win is to bring to the table a mastery of playing to win and a mastery of the game at hand. These things are developed within you and are revealed to others only during conflict.
No matter the game, you must create an environment in which you can improve. You must practice against a wide range of opponents. You must free your mind from self-imposed rules that prevent you from winning. You must develop “mental toughness” and the ability to read the minds of your opponents. You must interact with a community of other players.
Another thing you will need is a lifestyle that will allow you to devote the time, money, and mental energy to playing your game. Since this is significant, you are well advised to play a game you find “fun” or at least to find “fun” in the competition or personal challenge of improving because building your life around a game that feels like “work” is a mistake. Building your life around any game is arguably a mistake, but I’ll pretend to ignore that point, as it sure helps when it comes to winning.
(Playing with) Beginners VS Experts
The idea is to use the beginners as a way to get an extraordinary amount of practice in the tactics that win the game in a short amount of time. The experts rarely allow such situations to arise, but when they do, you will need to capitalize on them professionally. When the opponent makes a fatal mistake, you need to be able to confidently take control of the game and win it. This act must be natural, something you’ve done a thousand times before.
The experts keep you honest. They remind you, “That was not a safe move. You cannot trick me with that. That will not stop my advances.” The expert also teaches you how to win, but presents only very few opportunities to practice winning. The beginner, on the other hand, will let you practice winning until it’s second nature. At that time, you must return to the experts.
The first step in becoming a top player is the realization that playing to win means doing whatever most increases your chances of winning. That is true by definition of playing to win. The game knows no rules of “honor” or of “cheapness.” The game only knows winning and losing.Innovation is merely one of many tools that may or may not help you reach victory. The goal is to play as excellently as possible. The goal is to win.
On Losing
Losing is part of the game. If you never lose, you are never truly tested, and never forced to grow. A loss is an opportunity to learn. But losing can be upsetting, and can cause emotions to take the place of logical thinking.
Losing to 'noobs' doesn't validate your loss. It makes you a bigger noob, and deprives you of the chance to learn from your mistakes.
Only the loser plays the part of the victim. The winner takes charge and actively seeks out improvement.
Non-technical edges - the "fear aura"
If your aim is to intimidate the opponent, then I am all for that. But there are polite, sportsman-like ways of doing this. The best way by far is to win tournaments. See what your next opponent thinks of you then. Just give him something as simple as a half-hearted glance and empty-sounding “good luck” before the match and he will probably fall over like a feather from your presence. When a player radiates a sense of total dominance at a game, I call this a “fear aura.” Once you develop your fear aura through excellent play and winning, you will laugh at the relatively ineffective notion of intimidating opponents with offensive verbal comments.
Nearly winning vs nearly losing
You must often employ different tactics when winning than when losing. When losing badly, you are often forced to choose only from high-risk options that have big enough payoffs to put you back into the game. When you are down several pieces in chess, you can no longer afford to grind the opponent down slowly, trading piece for piece. The further behind you are, the more imperative it becomes to find that bold combination that traps the enemy king directly. On the other hand, if you are winning by a huge amount in a fighting game, you would be wise to restrict yourself to unusually safe moves, giving the opponent no chance to come back.
Critical Moments
Critical moments are what you need to create and take advantage of when you’re losing. They are what you need to suppress and avoid when you are winning.
The state has principles to live by and precedents to set, but war is fierce and urgent. If you wish to win in battle, you must do immediately whatever is practical and effective.
Mental conditioning
Discipline is more than just skill at execution. There is also mental discipline: the ability to stay focused and conserve your limited resources of concentration, tenacity, alertness, and physical strength. Physical discipline is a factor, as it can determine how much endurance or alertness you have to work with in the first place, but mental discipline is what lets you stretch your resources as far as possible.
To conserve resources, develop a basic technique for winning. Against players who aren’t capable of overcoming your little algorithm, you can virtually play on autopilot.
Attacking by Fire
Sun Tzu spoke of using fire against the enemy, but he was driving at a fundamental tactic: attacking in parallel. One can set fire to an enemy building to drive him out into an ambush. One can set fire to one side of an enemy camp while taking up positions on the other side, again driving the enemy into an ambush. In all cases, the fire is basically used as an extra force of attackers. The fire cannot be reasoned with or bargained with or ignored. The fire has no mercy. While it serves the same function as a band of men would (to attack the enemy and drive him to action), the fire requires no manpower once it is started. It also finds its way inside a barracks without risking the lives of a squad. Because the fire acts independently, it allows a given group of men to apply more attacking force than would otherwise be possible.
Gaming examples include projectile attacks in fighting games, or grenades in Counter Strike.
Divide and Conquer
Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us. Knowing the place and time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.
In the context of Starcraft, minerals and gas are the two primary resources, but it is easy to overlook the third resource (not population) of concentration. Concentration is the time a player has to spend focusing on a task during a game. Fighting multiple fronts requires a good amount of concentration.
Yomi
In competitive games, there is little more valuable than knowing the mind of the opponent, which the Japanese call “yomi.” All the complicated decisions in game theory go away if you know exactly what the opponent will do next.
When you are facing high level opponents who are more skilled at seeing the moments than anyone you have ever faced, it becomes that much more important to break out of the textbook mold and throw some figurative sand in their eyes. If you can blind them to the moments they would normally see, you then have access to the large repertoire of intermediate moves and tactics that you thought you couldn’t use on the experts.
Preparation
In college, I used to say that the more you prepare for a final exam, the worse you’ll do. The reason is that if the final exam is mere days away and you need to cram for it then your battle is already lost. Despite your best efforts, it will be hard to compete against students who have developed a natural understanding of the material and have been able to think about it and mentally manipulate it over the semester. Gaming is not so different. Things learned at the last minute just aren’t as effective as things you’ve fully integrated into your play over a long period of time. If something requires physical dexterity, you’re much better off if it becomes deeply engrained in your muscle memory. If it’s a tactic, you’re much better off practicing it over time against a variety of opponents in order to gain a full, first-hand understanding of it. Basically, if you stay on your path of continuous self-improvement then you are prepared for a tournament.
Knowing your enemy is part of preparing for tournaments. Time and time again, I have seen new players who think they are very good claim that they would do well in tournaments, and they basically never do, at least not right away. Part of being good is being plugged into the tournament meta-game, and it’s extremely difficult, and in some games impossible, to simply develop skills in a vacuum then waltz in and win a tournament.
R&D
Playing to win and playing to learn are often at odds. If you play the game at hand to maximize your chances of winning, then you won’t take the unnecessary risks of trying out new tactics, counters, moves, patterns, or whatever. Playing it straight is the best way to win the game at hand, but at the cost of valuable information about the game that you may need later and valuable practice to expand your narrow repertoire of moves or tactics.
playing to win involves exploring. It involves trying several different approaches in a game to see which you are best at, which other players are best at, and which you think will end up being the most effective in the end.
The Karmic justice of it all is that love of the game really does count for something. Those who love the game play it to play it. They mess around. They pick strange characters, try strange tactics, face others who do the same, and they learn the secret knowledge. Those who play only to win can’t be bothered with any of that. Every minute they spend playing goes toward climbing their current peak, attaining their local maximum.
Conversely, continuing to be the best at a game you no longer love, or never loved, is a difficult and hazardous thing to attempt. Those who love the game will find an easier time sticking to it, improving, and giving it their time and thoughts. Even if you can keep up with them, devoting such a large part of your life to something you don’t love is going to create its own problems that will no doubt eventually lead to your downfall.
“Appraisal” or “Valuation” is the ability to judge the relative value of different pieces, moves, tactics, or strategies in a game. This might be the most important skill in competitive games. If Yomi is understanding the opponent, then Appraisal is understanding the game itself.
adept at judging the relative value of moves in a particular game situation.
Games require training, practice, and discipline. Having a love for what you’re doing really does help you. Games teach you to remain calm under the most dire of circumstances, and to never give up until your very last breath of life is spent. They teach you to learn from your mistakes, rather than shift the blame to others, because that is the only real way to improve. They teach that continuous self-improvement over time is the only way to survive.
There are many forms of expression in the world, but one of the advantages of competitive games is that they force you to test your worldview against the worldviews of others. It’s easy to develop highly unpopular theories about life in general that you have no real way of testing, but competitive games force you to jump in, get dirty, and see how those ideas really stack up. If you are an unconventional genius, you will prove so beyond all doubt. If you are a confused quack, that too will be borne out, and you will have the opportunity to learn from others and change your ways.
Competitive games teach you to focus on results.
Slaughterer (don't give chance) vs teacher (give chance)
Taking the Shadow’s approach (ruthlessness, playing at full skill level against all) will generally strengthen your own play skills, while taking the Vorlon’s approach (being nurturing to /going easy on new players) will generally weaken them. Teaching has its virtues, but it is often bad for the teacher.
The Teacher has several forces working against him. First, all the time he spends on helping weaker players could be spent playing against stronger players. Next, he can develop bad habits by using techniques on weaker players that would never work on stronger players. And what’s worse, he will not have even a fraction of the practice that the Slaughterer will have when it comes to “pushing as hard as you can for as long as you can.” The Teacher will often need to push just enough to challenge the student, giving them chances to learn this or that concept.
The virtues of the cold slaughterer: He’s the one pushing the envelope of play skills, which makes his contribution incredibly valuable, even if it is not often popular.
August 23, 2012
I was introduced to David Sirlin as a game designer, not as a championship Streetfighter player. While the views he compiles in this book have a powerful influence on his design sensibilities, Sirlin isn't speaking to designers with this book. He's speaking to players. Sirlin is articulate, but still has the voice of the arcade -- kind of a douche if you're not in the club. Your mileage will vary based on your interest in his anecdotes. Still, it's refreshing seeing competitive video games treated as honorable peers of chess, poker, tennis and go.
As a game designer working on a competitive video game, the book served as a great inspiration for the depths of passion that players who like your game can put into mastering it. Creating deep systems worthy of true competition is a nearly impossible task, or at least not one to be taken lightly. So in the end, this is an inspiring little book for designers of a certain kind of game, but overall, I think Sirlin's best writing is found on sirlin.net when he talks about his own work.
As a game designer working on a competitive video game, the book served as a great inspiration for the depths of passion that players who like your game can put into mastering it. Creating deep systems worthy of true competition is a nearly impossible task, or at least not one to be taken lightly. So in the end, this is an inspiring little book for designers of a certain kind of game, but overall, I think Sirlin's best writing is found on sirlin.net when he talks about his own work.
September 1, 2016
This very short book about playing games like Street Fighter, Chess, and Magic the Gathering, at the highest tournament levels is one of the best books I've read in at least a year. It's weirdly entertaining. Especially interesting were the bits about mindreading, or as the author calls it, Yomi, the comparison of chess masters to street fighter players, and learning the somewhat terrible jargon of "scrubs" who decry "cheap" moves. Not recommended to people who didn't grow up playing fighting games.
February 3, 2020
Disclaimer: Less of a review, more of a personal story ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since this book was first released. I found myself nodding in agreement pretty much every paragraph even though I'm playing games that are 2-3 generations removed. It's like he says, paraphrased, every gaming community is a mirror image of nearly every other gaming community. I've shuttled enough between /r/dota2 and /r/globaloffensive to know that this is true.
The book put into words a lot of thoughts that have been brewing in my head for the last couple of years.
I've wanted answers for a while. Why a friend from college continued to be much worse than me despite spending 2x amount of time on the game. What explained the massive skill-gap between the members of our college's CS:GO community who started at the same time and spent roughly the same time. Why the best players seemed to be good at multiple games?
I had a vague understanding of the answers and I knew none of these questions were really unique but seeing them put into words was great.
I've spent an inordinate (arguably not by some other people's standards) time on these games and part of me has always been looking to justify this time as being useful with other pursuits.
David elaborates on this in his book and answers a lot of questions I had.
He talks about how much of this, if any, applies to real life. I knew that not everything was directly applicable but didn't realize why. I now do. In his words (edited for brevity) "Games are sharply defined by rules, real life is not... Competitive games require military virtues and the end justifies the means, real life requires civic virtues like kindness, understanding, justice, and mercy."
I've always had a fascination for competitive games over regular single-player games and I now realize why. All of these are direct quotes —
- The great thing about competitive, zero-sum games is that they offer an objective measure of your progress. When you walk the path of continuous self-improvement that a champion must walk, you have a guide. If you are able to win more (that is, more consistently defeat highly skilled players), then you are improving.
- A competitive game, to me, is a debate. You argue your points with your opponent, and he argues his. “I think this series of moves is optimal,” you say, and he retorts, “Not when you take this into account.” Debates in real life are highly subjective, but in games we can be absolutely sure who the winner is.
- There are many forms of expression in the world, but one of the advantages of competitive games is that they force you to test your worldview against the worldviews of others.
- Furthermore, competitive games teach you to focus on results. You can define yourself to be a great player, but the community will define winners in terms of their ability to win. They care about results, and you should too. Everyone “could be” the best player if only they practiced more, if only they had the chance to play more, if only this or that. But none of that really matters when the gold medal is handed out. The gold medal goes to the person who gets the job done.
I've also struggled to understand my laser-focused desire on winning, on being better. Fun was always a side-effect. I didn't set out this way. I just was. I now realize that this is simply the "Playing To Win" mentality and it was a default for me. And I suspect this explains the skill gap between those who improve and those who don't. A happy accident of having the right mentality. The book outlines the two mentalities and explains how it's perfectly okay. There's also this quote that had me wheezing "There are also those who play games for something known as “fun.” That subject will not be covered here."
This isn't to say that nothing has changed since Sirlin has written this.
For example, he mentions the need to be in an area with access to the elite experts of the game you choose. So that you can get better faster. In 2020, we have ranked online matchmaking. Geography no longer matters as much. Which is why you have so many e-Sports pros from remote Finnish towns. Knowledge is for sale on hundreds of guide forums. The path to the top is easier. But also harder. I wonder how much this book would differ if it was written in 2020.
I couldn't relate with the entire book. For example, the bit about tournaments didn't resonate with me at all. I've only taken part in a couple of small tournaments and it's not quite the same. Some of the Art of War concepts felt only vaguely relevant to the games I've played. Yomi, for example. Sure, I could sometimes predict what my opponent would do in LAN games in college frustrating him to no end. But, I never really thought about it too much.
This has got to do with me being only mediocrely good at the games I've played. I've never really reached the upper echelons of any game, never really been a part of a competitive pro-scene. I suspect that's a regret I'll take to the grave unless I do something about it.
I have new appreciation for fighting games after reading this. That is a genre I have not yet dabbled in. I might pick up Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo Switch just to see if I can get a better grasp over these concepts.
This book was everything I was expecting it to be.
Favorite quote :
"So do all the lessons of winning at games apply to real life? No, they do not. But only a fool would walk away from competitive games without learning a wealth of life lessons. Games require training, practice, and discipline. Having a love for what you’re doing really does help you. Games teach you to remain calm under the most dire of circumstances, and to never give up until your very last breath of life is spent. They teach you to learn from your mistakes, rather than shift the blame to others, because that is the only real way to improve. They teach that continuous self-improvement over time is the only way to survive."
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since this book was first released. I found myself nodding in agreement pretty much every paragraph even though I'm playing games that are 2-3 generations removed. It's like he says, paraphrased, every gaming community is a mirror image of nearly every other gaming community. I've shuttled enough between /r/dota2 and /r/globaloffensive to know that this is true.
The book put into words a lot of thoughts that have been brewing in my head for the last couple of years.
I've wanted answers for a while. Why a friend from college continued to be much worse than me despite spending 2x amount of time on the game. What explained the massive skill-gap between the members of our college's CS:GO community who started at the same time and spent roughly the same time. Why the best players seemed to be good at multiple games?
I had a vague understanding of the answers and I knew none of these questions were really unique but seeing them put into words was great.
I've spent an inordinate (arguably not by some other people's standards) time on these games and part of me has always been looking to justify this time as being useful with other pursuits.
David elaborates on this in his book and answers a lot of questions I had.
He talks about how much of this, if any, applies to real life. I knew that not everything was directly applicable but didn't realize why. I now do. In his words (edited for brevity) "Games are sharply defined by rules, real life is not... Competitive games require military virtues and the end justifies the means, real life requires civic virtues like kindness, understanding, justice, and mercy."
I've always had a fascination for competitive games over regular single-player games and I now realize why. All of these are direct quotes —
- The great thing about competitive, zero-sum games is that they offer an objective measure of your progress. When you walk the path of continuous self-improvement that a champion must walk, you have a guide. If you are able to win more (that is, more consistently defeat highly skilled players), then you are improving.
- A competitive game, to me, is a debate. You argue your points with your opponent, and he argues his. “I think this series of moves is optimal,” you say, and he retorts, “Not when you take this into account.” Debates in real life are highly subjective, but in games we can be absolutely sure who the winner is.
- There are many forms of expression in the world, but one of the advantages of competitive games is that they force you to test your worldview against the worldviews of others.
- Furthermore, competitive games teach you to focus on results. You can define yourself to be a great player, but the community will define winners in terms of their ability to win. They care about results, and you should too. Everyone “could be” the best player if only they practiced more, if only they had the chance to play more, if only this or that. But none of that really matters when the gold medal is handed out. The gold medal goes to the person who gets the job done.
I've also struggled to understand my laser-focused desire on winning, on being better. Fun was always a side-effect. I didn't set out this way. I just was. I now realize that this is simply the "Playing To Win" mentality and it was a default for me. And I suspect this explains the skill gap between those who improve and those who don't. A happy accident of having the right mentality. The book outlines the two mentalities and explains how it's perfectly okay. There's also this quote that had me wheezing "There are also those who play games for something known as “fun.” That subject will not be covered here."
This isn't to say that nothing has changed since Sirlin has written this.
For example, he mentions the need to be in an area with access to the elite experts of the game you choose. So that you can get better faster. In 2020, we have ranked online matchmaking. Geography no longer matters as much. Which is why you have so many e-Sports pros from remote Finnish towns. Knowledge is for sale on hundreds of guide forums. The path to the top is easier. But also harder. I wonder how much this book would differ if it was written in 2020.
I couldn't relate with the entire book. For example, the bit about tournaments didn't resonate with me at all. I've only taken part in a couple of small tournaments and it's not quite the same. Some of the Art of War concepts felt only vaguely relevant to the games I've played. Yomi, for example. Sure, I could sometimes predict what my opponent would do in LAN games in college frustrating him to no end. But, I never really thought about it too much.
This has got to do with me being only mediocrely good at the games I've played. I've never really reached the upper echelons of any game, never really been a part of a competitive pro-scene. I suspect that's a regret I'll take to the grave unless I do something about it.
I have new appreciation for fighting games after reading this. That is a genre I have not yet dabbled in. I might pick up Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo Switch just to see if I can get a better grasp over these concepts.
This book was everything I was expecting it to be.
Favorite quote :
"So do all the lessons of winning at games apply to real life? No, they do not. But only a fool would walk away from competitive games without learning a wealth of life lessons. Games require training, practice, and discipline. Having a love for what you’re doing really does help you. Games teach you to remain calm under the most dire of circumstances, and to never give up until your very last breath of life is spent. They teach you to learn from your mistakes, rather than shift the blame to others, because that is the only real way to improve. They teach that continuous self-improvement over time is the only way to survive."
May 2, 2022
This book made me realize I was letting my ego get in the way of winning: both in ranked games and in my career.
For work, I used to feel like "playing the game" or "playing politics" was for poor performers to cover up their weaknesses. Thankfully over time I swallowed my pride and decided if I was going to play, I was going to play to win at any cost.
Once I adopted this mindset, it was easier to do the "lame" things that were clearly just signalling mechanisms. Better clothes and grooming, a public blog, writing books, leadership in meetups, lots of open source work, conference speaking, reading all the right books, saying the right things, etc. Over time, instead of just doing these for "winning" I grew into someone an order of magnitude better than before I started. Sort of a catch 22.
At some point it's not just signalling anymore. I'm extremely glad I swallowed my pride when I did, and really wish I'd done it sooner.
This book really kicked me in the pants, and I'm significantly more successful because of it. David, if you're reading this, thanks a lot man.
EDIT: I, uh, didn't really apply this much effort to ranked games, so I'm still a scrub at MOBAs. If anything, it made me realize I didn't really want to win at MOBAs, I wanted to win at life.
For work, I used to feel like "playing the game" or "playing politics" was for poor performers to cover up their weaknesses. Thankfully over time I swallowed my pride and decided if I was going to play, I was going to play to win at any cost.
Once I adopted this mindset, it was easier to do the "lame" things that were clearly just signalling mechanisms. Better clothes and grooming, a public blog, writing books, leadership in meetups, lots of open source work, conference speaking, reading all the right books, saying the right things, etc. Over time, instead of just doing these for "winning" I grew into someone an order of magnitude better than before I started. Sort of a catch 22.
At some point it's not just signalling anymore. I'm extremely glad I swallowed my pride when I did, and really wish I'd done it sooner.
This book really kicked me in the pants, and I'm significantly more successful because of it. David, if you're reading this, thanks a lot man.
EDIT: I, uh, didn't really apply this much effort to ranked games, so I'm still a scrub at MOBAs. If anything, it made me realize I didn't really want to win at MOBAs, I wanted to win at life.
November 4, 2019
A lot of great advice written clearly and usefully, cleverly laid out and accessible. My criticisms are that 1. Sirlin writes as though he assumes the reader is a straight man throughout with only one exception, and as a queer woman I found that pretty irritating and alienating. 2. Sirlin's personal prowess is in street fighter games, which I have no complaint with, but sometimes the long anecdotes about a host of games I have no interest in got a bit wearing even though the teaching points of the anecdotes were worthwhile. Even so, I would recommend this book to others intent on improving their ability to win games. Let's face it, if you're a pro gamer or would-be pro gamer and you're not male, this book is hardly going to be a drop in the bucket of the exclusion you're likely to experience.
The book does largely presume that you intent to play at tournament level if not actually professionally in your game(s) of choice so, while it still contains a lot of valuable advice, if that isn't your aim then a fair bit will be irrelevant to you.
The book does largely presume that you intent to play at tournament level if not actually professionally in your game(s) of choice so, while it still contains a lot of valuable advice, if that isn't your aim then a fair bit will be irrelevant to you.
February 5, 2023
This book is full of facts and insights about the tough process of competitive gaming, and the writer's experiences as a competitive player of the Street Fighter video game make the reading experience more interesting. It reminded me of the years that I spent most of my weekends in gaming tournaments. Also, I highly felt the influence of "Art of Learning" on this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who sees himself as competitive in his life/game.
November 4, 2019
Mostly a translation of Sun Tzu's "Art of War" to the realm of competitive games, with some of the author's own experiences in competitive video games thrown in. Having known absolutely nothing about that scene, I did find this book fascinating. The author is at times almost Machiavellian in his pragmatism.
February 27, 2021
This PvP game strategy book has a delightful narrator voice. The author is self aware about the impracticality of devoting so much time to PVP fighting games, yet happily makes his obsession clear. Then he delves into strategy.
It is useful to learn the mindset, for people who make games. This is the Killer mindset from the four gamer categories.
It is useful to learn the mindset, for people who make games. This is the Killer mindset from the four gamer categories.
March 13, 2023
I cannot get more behind the message than I am: playing to win in competitive games is the prerequisite for all the rewarding things that come from the challenge.
I can sympathize with cheesy, hard to counter moves or strategy being boring to play against, but hate the sin - gameplay design & balance - and not the sinner.
I can sympathize with cheesy, hard to counter moves or strategy being boring to play against, but hate the sin - gameplay design & balance - and not the sinner.
October 19, 2017
My limited experience in competitive e-sports confirmed Sirlin's advice as true and effective. Seeing this knowledge in such a precise and succinct form has helped me apply these lessons to other activities and games like chess.
February 1, 2021
Great book for getting over hurdles of trying to become a winner at individual games. It takes on you the path to a winning mindset versus being ‘scrub’.
My only complaint is it’s a bit short. At 131 pages, it’s only an couple hours to read. It leaves you wanting more.
My only complaint is it’s a bit short. At 131 pages, it’s only an couple hours to read. It leaves you wanting more.
December 21, 2016
Sun Tzu's Art of War recapitulated through the lens of a competitive Street Fighter player. Well-written and enjoyable for what it is.
June 8, 2017
This book is a must read for anyone who plays any game competitively. It is the perfect guide to mindset and mastery.
January 14, 2018
Written from a pro gamer perspective and has some really good insights and tips to improve your play. Well worth the time spent reading the book since it's pretty short.
September 29, 2022
Gets a 5 star because im a nerd for fighting games and loved reading alle the little details about players and old games. Probably not the best book in a pure literary sense.
September 7, 2024
Short, sweet, and highly informative for its very specific topic.
December 8, 2018
α - recommended by Robert Heaton.
Ω(=,I) - Improved my abhorrent Tekken game & is free online. What's not to like?
Ω(=,I) - Improved my abhorrent Tekken game & is free online. What's not to like?
January 4, 2021
A great book and a relatively quick read. For competitors in gaming, this book provides a decent overview of Playing to Win as a concept and does so through various examples spanning different games and avenues of theory.
Much like Driven, Michael Jordan’s book I just read, sometimes the author would get a little too caught up in explaining a largely unrelated topic to the main subject, going too in depth with a comparison.
This was the only issue I ran into though, with the book. Other than that I would certainly give this a read, since it’s quite short and overviews the theme of playing to win quite well.
Much like Driven, Michael Jordan’s book I just read, sometimes the author would get a little too caught up in explaining a largely unrelated topic to the main subject, going too in depth with a comparison.
This was the only issue I ran into though, with the book. Other than that I would certainly give this a read, since it’s quite short and overviews the theme of playing to win quite well.
August 1, 2016
It's not quite a self-help book, but not quite a strategy guide either. It's about developing the correct approach to playing competitive fighting games, building the right mindset and approaching play with the right headspace.
With a title like PLAYING TO WIN: BECOMING THE CHAMPION you'd think it was some kind of Machiavelian, Stirnerist, manly pep talk kind of thing, but its exactly the opposite. The mindset you need to develop is, more or less, humbleness. Getting good at fighting games - and, anything - requires a tremendous amount of honest self-reflection and self-criticism. Something that is unfortunately lacking in much of the fighting game community. The book is really aimed at that very particular player you've no doubt met, the 'scrub', who is constantly complaining of cheap tactics, of such-and-such being broken, of other players being bad, and so on. It wants to bring them out of this process, of externalizing their failures, and to embrace the spirit of earnest competition.
This kind of person is the cause of all unpleasantness in the fighting game community, so the book is a noble effort.
Well, the first part of the book is that, anyway, although its a considerable chunk (and I think, its main contribution to the discourse). Then it discusses some more serious tactical concepts, using in-depth comparisons to Sun Tzu's Art of War. He introduces higher-level concepts like Yomi (the art of prediction), preventing your opponent from playing, deception ("the sneaky roundhouse I do after the 17th low strong is pretty tricky, actually. I mean, wouldn’t you expect an 18th low strong after the 17th one?") - it's very worthwhile stuff, but definitely aimed at advanced players. This book wont show you how to be good, ie. competitive, it'll show you how to be better, ie. you are already a good player and you want to go further, to 'become the champion.' It ends on a chapter about what to do with your power now that you have it, once you've reached 'championhood' (which I haven't read - I'm still a beginner!)
It's all well written and full of funny anecdotes, so it's worth reading for its literary value. As a textbook, though, it's only going to help you if you're already an inermediate player. If you feel stuck or constrained, turn to it in desperation. Absolute beginners might do better turning to a book like Patrick Miller's 'Fighting Game Primer', which has a lot of practical advice for beginners about practicing, playing, combos and basic fighting game concepts.
read it here: http://www.sirlin.net/ptw/
audiobook by juicebox: : youtube (incomplete unfortunately!)
With a title like PLAYING TO WIN: BECOMING THE CHAMPION you'd think it was some kind of Machiavelian, Stirnerist, manly pep talk kind of thing, but its exactly the opposite. The mindset you need to develop is, more or less, humbleness. Getting good at fighting games - and, anything - requires a tremendous amount of honest self-reflection and self-criticism. Something that is unfortunately lacking in much of the fighting game community. The book is really aimed at that very particular player you've no doubt met, the 'scrub', who is constantly complaining of cheap tactics, of such-and-such being broken, of other players being bad, and so on. It wants to bring them out of this process, of externalizing their failures, and to embrace the spirit of earnest competition.
This kind of person is the cause of all unpleasantness in the fighting game community, so the book is a noble effort.
Well, the first part of the book is that, anyway, although its a considerable chunk (and I think, its main contribution to the discourse). Then it discusses some more serious tactical concepts, using in-depth comparisons to Sun Tzu's Art of War. He introduces higher-level concepts like Yomi (the art of prediction), preventing your opponent from playing, deception ("the sneaky roundhouse I do after the 17th low strong is pretty tricky, actually. I mean, wouldn’t you expect an 18th low strong after the 17th one?") - it's very worthwhile stuff, but definitely aimed at advanced players. This book wont show you how to be good, ie. competitive, it'll show you how to be better, ie. you are already a good player and you want to go further, to 'become the champion.' It ends on a chapter about what to do with your power now that you have it, once you've reached 'championhood' (which I haven't read - I'm still a beginner!)
It's all well written and full of funny anecdotes, so it's worth reading for its literary value. As a textbook, though, it's only going to help you if you're already an inermediate player. If you feel stuck or constrained, turn to it in desperation. Absolute beginners might do better turning to a book like Patrick Miller's 'Fighting Game Primer', which has a lot of practical advice for beginners about practicing, playing, combos and basic fighting game concepts.
read it here: http://www.sirlin.net/ptw/
audiobook by juicebox: : youtube (incomplete unfortunately!)
June 10, 2013
As a new player, you walk into a tournament usually looking to have fun and have a good experience. Very few players actually attempt to take the little intricacies they have learned and ultimately use it to play to win.. Let's be real now. The usual player is a guy who looks at the box, sees this frivolous karate fighter and the large thighed female Chinese cop on the box art and is automatically enticed.
The game is much deeper than that. In the end it doesn't matter how you won and that's what the short quirky read is about - playing to win and abusing what you have to achieve that victory. I highly recommend it as it colorfully illustrates the mindset of a champion versus this new guy simply wanting to win. It's a must read for a champion.
The game is much deeper than that. In the end it doesn't matter how you won and that's what the short quirky read is about - playing to win and abusing what you have to achieve that victory. I highly recommend it as it colorfully illustrates the mindset of a champion versus this new guy simply wanting to win. It's a must read for a champion.
March 9, 2023
An article I read from this book changed my life in any endeavor I have undertaken since. Before, I was the scrub; I was someone who wanted to play the game my own way and not use "cheap" tactics. After, I learned how to improve and compete with the best players in the world of my game. But FAR more importantly - it helped me "play to win" when it came to my actual life goals, and the mindset gained and employed from that article lead me to accomplish them.
Years later I decided to actually read the rest of the book, and I'm glad that I did.
David Sirlin flawlessly articulates what is only logical to begin with: if you're not playing to win, you're not really playing the same game as those who are.
Years later I decided to actually read the rest of the book, and I'm glad that I did.
David Sirlin flawlessly articulates what is only logical to begin with: if you're not playing to win, you're not really playing the same game as those who are.
February 6, 2007
This book is an almost TOO dorky dissection of winning strategies for competitive video gaming. Sirlin goes as far as using quotes from Sun Tzu to support his tacital recommendations.
The author is a competitive Street Fighter player and professional game designer. Playing to Win is a book about just that, how to play not to have fun or be entertained, but to dismantle opponents.
Very short, off the wall different kinda book. If you are gamer looking for some bathroom material, have a look.
The author is a competitive Street Fighter player and professional game designer. Playing to Win is a book about just that, how to play not to have fun or be entertained, but to dismantle opponents.
Very short, off the wall different kinda book. If you are gamer looking for some bathroom material, have a look.
June 28, 2012
Amazing book for anybody that wants to reach the top in a game, and even for those that are arguably already there, it can server as a good revision of the things you should take into consideration when playing, and the mentality you should carry if you really want to win.
Apart from that, the author has some pretty interesting anecdotes about his gaming career (centered around fighting games), of other people he has gotten to know with the years, and even about chess champions.
Highly recommend it to anyone that wants to reach the top, or maintain at it.
Apart from that, the author has some pretty interesting anecdotes about his gaming career (centered around fighting games), of other people he has gotten to know with the years, and even about chess champions.
Highly recommend it to anyone that wants to reach the top, or maintain at it.
January 13, 2022
Finally finished reading this book. Loved the author and his idea of winning which is unorthodox but actually effective. Will re-read this in the future and looking forward to adopt this principles in my gaming life.
Review 2022 :
This book impresses me back in 2020 and when I re-read it again, I was amazed how much vital points of the book that I missed. Especially the concept of Counter in gameplay. C1 can be countered by C2 and C3 can counter C2 and then C4 to conclude the counter. This kind of mind game is insane and I was surprised I didn't give this book a 5 stars.
Amazing book!
Review 2022 :
This book impresses me back in 2020 and when I re-read it again, I was amazed how much vital points of the book that I missed. Especially the concept of Counter in gameplay. C1 can be countered by C2 and C3 can counter C2 and then C4 to conclude the counter. This kind of mind game is insane and I was surprised I didn't give this book a 5 stars.
Amazing book!
February 20, 2015
Классно.
Самая замечательная мысль -- не быть scrub-ом, когда играешь на победу.
Scrub это такой чувак, который в довесок к правилам игры придумывает себе какие-то чисто свои ментальные ограничения, ведомый может каким чувством благородства (или просто слабоумия). Такие люди как правило проигрывают, а потом переживают, что их обыграли нечестно.
Интерпретация Сунь-Цзы (занимает несколько глав книжки) так же очень понравилась.
Самая замечательная мысль -- не быть scrub-ом, когда играешь на победу.
Scrub это такой чувак, который в довесок к правилам игры придумывает себе какие-то чисто свои ментальные ограничения, ведомый может каким чувством благородства (или просто слабоумия). Такие люди как правило проигрывают, а потом переживают, что их обыграли нечестно.
Интерпретация Сунь-Цзы (занимает несколько глав книжки) так же очень понравилась.
January 11, 2015
An amazing book that breaks down games to their core, namely systems with rules which you can bend and abuse to win. I leaned a great deal about competitive behavior and what it means to have the goal in mind.
It uses a lot of anecdotes from different competitive games (e.g. computer games, game shows etc.) to get the point across. Even if you do not know them it is still a good read.
It uses a lot of anecdotes from different competitive games (e.g. computer games, game shows etc.) to get the point across. Even if you do not know them it is still a good read.
June 2, 2016
I read this after 1CThe Inner Game of Tennis 1D, and just like 1CThe Inner Game of Tennis 1D is not about tennis, I would say 1CPlaying to Win 1D is not about Street Fighter, but about general winning attitude and philosophy, especially considering many 1CSun Tzu 1D quotes and a quick research of a winning character.
November 8, 2009
Brilliant.
April 4, 2011
This guy's attitude towards winning is why playing competitive games with strangers is generally not very fun.
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