NEWS: PRESS START TO PLAY is Now Available Wherever Fine Books Are Sold!

Press Start to Play is now available!

COVER COPY

IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! TAKE THIS.

You are standing in a room filled with books, faced with a difficult decision. Suddenly, one with a distinctive cover catches your eye. It is a groundbreaking anthology of short stories from award-winning writers and game-industry titans who have embarked on a quest to explore what happens when video games and science fiction collide.

From text-based adventures to first-person shooters, dungeon crawlers to horror games, these twenty-six stories play with our notion of what video games can be—and what they can become—in smart and singular ways. With a foreword from Ernest Cline, bestselling author of Ready Player One,Press Start to Play includes work from: Daniel H. Wilson, Charles Yu, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, S.R. Mastrantone, Charlie Jane Anders, Holly Black, Seanan McGuire, Django Wexler, Nicole Feldringer, Chris Avellone, David Barr Kirtley,T.C. Boyle, Marc Laidlaw, Robin Wasserman, Micky Neilson, Cory Doctorow, Jessica Barber, Chris Kluwe, Marguerite K. Bennett, Rhianna Pratchett, Austin Grossman,  Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Catherynne M. Valente, Andy Weir, and Hugh Howey.

Your inventory includes keys, a cell phone, and a wallet. What would you like to do?

>__

COVER

Press Start to Play

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Foreword—Ernest Cline
  • Introduction—John Joseph Adams
  • God Mode—Daniel H. Wilson
  • NPC—Charles Yu
  • Respawn—Hiroshi Sakurazaka (translated by Nathan Collins)
  • Desert Walk—S.R. Mastrantone
  • Rat Catcher’s Yellows—Charlie Jane Anders
  • 1Up—Holly Black
  • Survival Horror—Seanan McGuire
  • REAL—Django Wexler
  • Outliers—Nicole Feldringer
  • <end game>—Chris Avellone
  • Save Me Plz—David Barr Kirtley (reprint)
  • The Relive Box—T.C. Boyle (reprint)
  • Roguelike—Marc Laidlaw
  • All of the People in Your Party Have Died—Robin Wasserman
  • RECOIL!—Micky Neilson
  • Anda’s Game—Cory Doctorow (reprint)
  • Coma Kings—Jessica Barber (reprint)
  • Stats—Marguerite K. Bennett
  • Please Continue—Chris Kluwe
  • Creation Screen—Rhianna Pratchett
  • The Fresh Prince of Gamma World—Austin Grossman
  • Gamer’s End—Yoon Ha Lee
  • The Clockwork Soldier—Ken Liu (reprint)
  • Killswitch—Catherynne M. Valente (reprint)
  • Twarrior—Andy Weir
  • Select Character—Hugh Howey

BUY THE BOOK

If you’d like to learn more about the book, read stories from the anthology for free online, or read interviews with the authors, visit the website for Press Start to Play at johnjosephadams.com/press-start.

Press Start to Play