Trigger Happy (book)
Trigger Happy is a non-fiction book about video games by English author Steven Poole, published in 2000. It explores the history and appeal of video games and asks what makes some games more fun than others. Poole discusses how game space and perspective work, how players are rewarded and progress, how game characters are designed, and the debate over violence in games.
Different editions have subtitles such as The Inner Life of Videogames and Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution, and were published by Fourth Estate (ISBN 1-84115-121-1) and Arcade Publishing (ISBN 1-55970-598-1). In 2007, a free pdf version under a Creative Commons license was released on Poole's website.
The book received positive remarks from New Statesman for offering a clear, engaging look into the ideas behind games and the “soul” of video games.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:16 (CET).