The Laws of the Game
A Game Studies Book about Soccer
Miguel Sicart author Bo Kampmann Walther author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:14th Apr '26
£86.99
Supplier delay - available to order, but may take longer than usual.
This book applies theories, methods, and concepts from game studies to soccer. This is a game studies book about soccer that studies the rules and design of soccer and the impact that technology has on the game's evolution.
The book comprises nine chapters that approach soccer from different game studies angles. The different chapters study the game off the pitch (the design), on the pitch (the gameplay), and around the pitch (the culture). The book establishes conversations with game studies, illuminating what we take for granted in the field and showing what is left to study. At the same time, it provides readers with a deep understanding of the importance of soccer, why we should pay attention to it, and how it reflects broader trends in culture, technology, politics, and play.
This book will be of great interest to game, media, and sports scholars, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in those fields.
"I know video games and I know football, but until I'd read The Laws Of The Game I'd never thought about either of them quite like this before. Viewing the sport through the lens of game design, rather than decades of accrued personal and cultural baggage, let me see football--and the offside law--in a whole new light."
Luke Plunkett, Aston Villa tragic (and co-founder of video game website Aftermath).
"The Laws of the Game is a timely, insightful and incredibly useful book for anyone who wants to better understand how the most popular sport in the world is designed, played and consumed. Sicart and Walther work tirelessly on and off the pitch, both close reading selected key moments of football and providing detailed historical, cultural and economic contexts for their readings. Be careful - reading this book may permanently change how you play, watch and study football."
Olli Sotamaa, Professor of Game Culture Studies, Tampere University.
ISBN: 9781041068037
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 460g
156 pages