Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse

Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life, the games we play in business and politics, in the bedroom and on the battlefield — games with winners and losers, a beginning and an end. Infinite games are the more mysterious — and ultimately more rewarding. They are unscripted and unpredictable; they are the source of true freedom.

-- from the back cover of the 1986 edition.

there were some interesting ideas in the first third of the book but the last two-thirds was incomprehensible word salad

Don't bother. Or at least, put it on your soporific pile. It's long-winded, full of semantic games, and a bit simpleminded. It reads as if some guy had a great acid trip, figured out all the world's problems in a flash of insight, came down, and tried to make sense of his trip.

That's what I wrote to a friend back in 2005, years before I even heard of Goodreads. Also years before I tried psychedelics, and now that I have a few trips under my belt I retract that last sentence: yes, I've had moments of understanding but ugh, I've never been pretentious enough to play condescending word games with it. If you're in the mood for Deeply Profound Insights, go visit the New Age Bullshit Generator instead.