Review: The God Game by Danny Tobey

The God Game by Danny Tobey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this via St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this. I think fans of Ready Player One and Warcross will enjoy this. It isn't really LitRPG, as it doesn't really have the players enter the game, and it doesn't get really heavy on the game play and player stats. If you are a true LitRPG lover, this doesn't have the stats and inventory type of data you may be wanting from a book about a VR type game. It isn't overly technical either. The group of hackers doesn't really get deep into the code and the equipment they use, while creative, isn't overly technical or difficult to use or understand. I think that will appeal to people who like sci-fi that isn't so heavy on the science you can't understand what is going on. This is going to be very accessible to a lot of people even if you aren't a gamer (I'm certainly not).

The God Game doesn't pull any punches with its name. The game invites players to a game that has real life consequences, play by its rules and you are rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. The more "good" you do in the games eyes the better the rewards. If you decide to go against the rules of the game you are punished, the more you are "bad" the worse the punishment is with death being a very real consequence of your actions while playing the game.

Charlie and his group of friends, who go by the name of The Vindicators, are invited to play the game. Initially it is exciting and they are all happy to run the errands the game sends them on and even more excited when they are rewarded with things they all want or need. When the game ups the ante on the errands and starts sending them on missions that cause them to question their own morals and ethics, they start to question if the game is as harmless as they thought. When Charlie decides that the risks aren't worth the reward, he tries to find a way to stop playing the game and learns that there may not be a way to stop playing.

As I stated I enjoyed this book. The plot is dark, a bit violent, and very creative. I mean a video game that thinks it is God and that has real world consequences is really cool. It brings up a lot of interesting social commentary and ethical questions. I did find that parts of it were a slow and repetitive. I felt a bit disconnected from all of the characters. They were all kind of anti-heros, and developed as such. They were presented as outcasts that formed their own friend group, but none of them stood out as the one you wanted to "win" or beat the game in the end.

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