People tend to live their lives by consistently playing out certain "games" in their interpersonal relationships. They play these games for a variety of reasons; to avoid confronting reality, to conceal ulterior motives, to rationalize their activities, or to avoid actual participation. These games - if they are not destructive - are both desirable and necessary, and in the present volume D. Berne offers the reader a thorough, fascinating analysis of thirty-six games, which he breaks down into seven major categories.