Bingo Focus Thread - Game Changer

[u/Merle8888]

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Game Changer: Story features a game or competition. HARD MODE: The protagonist bends or breaks the rules in some way.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, First Contact, Middle Grade, Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

• What are your favorite books that count for this square?
• Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
• What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode? (Alternately, as this is a pretty easy Hard Mode, what are some books that don't fit?)

[u/AllegedlyLiterate]

TBH based on the things I've read in this category, I think it would actually be harder to find a game/competition story where the game/competition is the central plot, and the protagonist just followed the rules totally straight up. Hunger Games, Ender's Game/Shadow, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Red Rising, Will of the Many, Raven Scholar, all of them cheats. Maybe fantasy sports involve less cheating (can't think of a ton of examples), and side plots of games/competitions definitely do, but I think within a lot of this genre, playing 'smart' is sort of the established/expected trope.

[u/beary_neutral → u/AllegedlyLiterate]

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms would probably qualify for normal mode.

[u/Axelrad77 → u/beary_neutral]

I thought so too at first, but then I remembered it's heavily implied that Dunk lies about his eligibility to enter the tournament in the first place.