Games matter because games don’t matter, says a philosopher

In bridge, a heart trick earns 30 points while a club trick earns 20, numbers that mean nothing outside of the game. That’s the whole point, argues philosopher C. Thi Nguyen in his book The Score. Good games use an arbitrary scoring system as a means to an end and never pretend the score means anything on its own. Nguyen’s slogan: “Games matter because …