The finite and infinite game

This is the title of a book written by James P. Carse.

On that book you can find that there are different attitudes you can have on the game. These strategic attitudes define the approach.

We can apply these attitudes depending on the context, but what is crucial is to detect what are the other players playing: finite or infinite game; this can change our approach when competing.

In Wardley’s gameplays table we can see some gameplays that are more aligned with these attitudes:

• Finite game: land grab, first mover, undermine barriers to entry, all accelerator gameplays…
• Infinite game: last man standing, limitation of competition, all defensive gameplays…