It’s here. The official first episode of EXP.

Play in general, and modern forms of it like board games and video games, seem like they can’t possibly matter in the grand scheme of things. They sound trivial, by definition. But they matter quite a lot, and not for the reasons you think.

This first episode of EXP is all about exploring why modern play is serious business, no matter who you are or what your experience has been with dice or Donkey Kong.

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To prepare for this episode, we asked our social media audience, “Did anyone teach you how to think about play?” If you didn’t get a chance to join the conversation, you can use the button below to comment here with your answer, or click the image to start following @bythebookgames on Instagram.

We’ve talked about why you should care about play. On our second episode of EXP, we’ll talk about whether it’s good for you, health-wise, diving into the research on how it affects your cognitive development, social skills, adaptability, and more.

…I read a lot of books for this one. So help me justify that. Check it out when it lands in your inbox soon.