Games People Play

When "Games" first came out I had just worked for two senior Army officers whom I seriously thought might be crazy. "Games" provided powerful insight into their behaviors and I read the book completely through at least six times, and particular parts even more times. I got out of the Army expecting to find a more rational environment, but my first two civilian managers were exactly in the pattern only worse. I eventually realized that the four characters I had worked for were clinical psychopaths, and I now have professional confirmation that this is so. Transactional Analysis (TA) lost much of its appeal when it was dismissed as "pop psychology," but there are active TA communities in Great Britain and Australia, as well as the USA. In studying psychopaths, I now find myself going back to the insights contained in "Games."

The book is amazing. It is the foundation for Transaction Analysis. All people play games with each other, either consciously or unconsciously. This book is easy to read and will teach you how to spot a game and how to not fall into its trap.
I highly recommend it for everyone.

This was the first Psychological theory that I completely understood and that was back in 1976! I needed a refresher and this copy (I lost my original) fit right in with my classes in Psychology that I am now taking. Thank you Eric Berne!!!

This is a surprisingly important book in my eyes.
Very enlightening as to some of the ways people act.

Suggest you couple the reading of this with the book called "Finite and infinite games"

I really loved this book, it helped me understand a lot of the behaviors and "games" my friends and family do. You have to keep in mind it was written in the 60's, so the language is a little outdated, but the way people act hasn't changed much.

Ever feel like you get lured into social traps? Do you feel like groups end up doing the same thing and getting nowhere in the process. This is because people have been playing games their whole lives without being aware.
Read this and transcend the BS. This was written by a psychologist, so you may need to read twice or keep a dictionary handy.
Peace!

In this classic work, Eric Berne extracts and presents the essence of some complex human interactions in simple understandable terms.
A good read for anyone wanting to understand human interactions better

I was disappointed with this product. I don't really like the information presented. It's more psychological and presumptuous than interactionally and instructive.
This work was recommended to me when I asked for learning resources on assertiveness.
The tone it was read in was sort of obnoxious, sarcastic, taunting. It did a good job in the examples of imitating people you don't like. I don't like to orient to people such that I do not like them so I could not really appreciate this feature.

Berne's insight is brilliant. I see these WAHMs, IITHYs etc. everywhere. His explanations for these acronym personalities helps so much in recognizing what's happening in conversations and how to see a way to deal with these game players. The writing is stunningly appropriate and clearly the work of a dedicated psychiatrist with theories projected well ahead of science that stands up well to the muddled landscape of change today.

This book was recommended to me by a psychiatrist when I complained about troubles in some of my family relationships. While I find the writing to be too academic (and the author a bit full of himself), if you cut through all of that there is some good and useful information here. Not an easy read but one that is worth it.

This book is entertaining to read, and brought a lot of perspective regarding the ways people interact with one another. I would buy this again. I have recommended it to a few friends who I thought could handle it.

Over the years I have "donated" this book to several people and end up purchasing another copy for myself. One needs to read it often as it contains so much help in understanding and helping everyone we come in contact with.

After all these years, people are still playing the sames games in life they were two generations ago. This book is just as informative and just as valuable in gaining insight as it ever was. Helping to understand why people behave the way they do goes a long way in dealing with them. In today's tough times, we need all the help we can get dealing with people under stress.