No amount of new content can fix a fundamentally broken game. New maps can’t help, nor new enemies, weapons, characters, or costumes. It’s all window dressing. You have to fix the rules first before it’s fun. But what kind of game are you playing with your life?

Maybe it’s an economic game, where dollars are points and the winners walk away with millions. The losers go home bankrupt, assuming they still own a home. Whether it’s the stock market or the casino, though, the odds lie stacked against you. The house writes the rules here and they always win.

Perhaps it’s a game of love or lust, where one “scores” a good partner or at least “scores” that same night. A respectable game, on the condition that everyone involved knows whether they’re playing for metaphorical table stakes or for keeps and only then if all the relevant cards are laid on the table first.

Or it’s a political game, where everyone jockeys for position. Poker faces surround the table and diplomacy reigns supreme. Everyone battles to decide who gets to play in the first place. There’s no escaping this particular game, not in one form or another. Best to master this one, or at least seek competence, no matter how you vote.

Regardless of which games you play, you cannot win unless you understand the meta-game. Do you know why you play the games you play? Do you understand the rules, both as written and as unspoken? Do you even know which games you’re playing in the first place? Until you can answer these questions, you can’t expect to advance to the next level. Once you do, you’ll find that it’s a whole different ballgame. Which game are you going to play next?