Moral Combat

Praise

“A remarkably smooth and fun read that blends anecdote and empirical data.”

—American Journal of Play

 

“Moral Combat is more than a clever play on words or even a defense of an entire industry. It’s an important reminder of the difference between fearmongering nonsense and proper research and reflection.”

—San Francisco Book Review

“A fact-filled, persuasive, and witty debunking of the cyclical moral panic about video games.”
—Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature

“A groundbreaking and vitally important book. It gets under the hood of how games actually work on our brains, and in the process it tells us more than any number of sensational news articles. This should be required reading for anyone who loves games or who loves someone who loves games . . . which is to say, everyone.”
—Greg Toppo, author of The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter

“As a filmmaker who’s spent much of my career working on video game-related content, it’s refreshing to finally see a book about games that gets it right.”
—Jeremy Snead, founder of Mediajuice Studios and writer/director of Video Games: The Movie and Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed

“Even readers familiar with video game politics and history will find something to gasp about. And stressed parents may finally understand what their kids get out of those games, and how to manage them better.”
—Cheryl K. Olson, ScD, coauthor of Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do and principal investigator for a major government-funded study of video games and youth

“Gamers should buy this book for their parents, and parents should calm down teachers and pediatricians with a copy. Anyone interested in a great, skeptical takedown of bad science should get their own copy.”
—James C. Coyne, professor emeritus of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania

“This book delivers healthy doses of skepticism and scientific insights that broaden our understanding of 21st century play. From political horse-trading to weak science, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in video games.”
—Andrew Przybylski, PhD, experimental psychology department research fellow at the University of Oxford