The Player of Games is a Culture novel by Iain M Banks set in a highly advanced universe where millions of people inhabit huge orbitals. It's a utopian society and technology has advanced to such a level that everyone has access to almost unlimited wealth, land and power.
Jernau Morat Gurgeh is a universally renowned game player who has mastered just about every game there is and is looking for a new challenge, feeling frustrated that theres not more he can do with his life (in a utopian society pretty much every problem's already been solved).
He contacts Special Circumstances and discovers that a distant empire, the Empire of Azad is controlled on the basis of who wins the game of Azad, a mind-bogglingly complex game with 3 boards each spanning a whole room. He sets off to the empire to play the game and uncovers more than just the game itself.
The Player of Games Video Game
What I want to know is why there's not an Azad video game. The Player of Games is a brilliant book and while the game described in it (which is only vaguely described) would be way too complicated to be created as a board game itself, I'm surprised that no-one's attempted to create a video game of it. Oh well, it's probably only a matter of time.
MMORPG
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