Play is a key part of human relationships, and we engage in it during every stage and in every facet of our lives. We develop games to include decision-making, risk, chance, competition, and cooperation, which mirror how we navigate social engagement in our everyday lives. In Playing Sociology: Theory and Games for Coping with Mimetic Crisis and Social Conflict, Martino Doni and Stefano Tomelleri employ gaming as a lens through which they analyze the underlying and sometimes hidden aspects of social relationships and conventions. They also provide five sociological games that can be played by teams in workplaces, classrooms, and other settings to encourage creative thinking and to create abstract ways to explore systemic or ongoing conflicts among group members. This research offers a new way to look at and participate in relational dynamics in both theory and practice.

Martino Doni has degrees in philosophy from the University of Milan and in clinical psychology from the University of Bergamo, as well as a PhD in anthropology and epistemology of complexity from the University of Bergamo. He has translated several books from German, English, and French, and has published numerous essays in journals and books.

Stefano Tomelleri has a PhD in sociology from the University of Parma and is professor of sociology. He is also affiliate professor in the Department of Management and deputy rector for participatory planning. He is president of Italian Sociological Association (2022–2025). He is author of more than one hundred publications, including Ressentiment: Reflections on Mimetic Desire and Society.

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Rules Are Needed to Play
Chapter 2. Envy and Paranoia: The Traps of Play
Chapter 3. Sympathy for Play
Chapter 4. Sociological Games
Chapter 5. Tribe: The Leader and the Sacrifice
Chapter 6. Thermopylae: Playing at War
Chapter 7. Polis: Participation and Skills
Chapter 8. Collapse: Before It’s Too Late
Chapter 9. Zombies: Every Ending Is a Beginning
Chapter 10. Playing Sociology: Notes on Method and Analysis
References