We've previously printed an extract from game designer David Sirlin's excellent (and just slightly surreal) self help/competitive gaming book 'Playing To Win' on Gamasutra, so it's great to see that he's now made the entire thing available for free, according to a post on his site.

Sirlin explains: "It might be a good idea to link to the Playing to Win Index in the beginner section of whatever gaming community you're a part of. I know how tiring it can be to say all that stuff over and over to new (or old!) players, which is why I wrote it down in the first place." And the psychological and motivational threads in the book are indeed very well expressed for those wanting to get very good at a particular game, sport, or part or life.

Still, as he also notes: "Yes, it's all free. If you find it helpful or interesting, I hope you'll either leave a donation and/or buy a physical copy of the book, too. Writing a book--even a short one--is hard and time-consuming. If you got any value out of it and you take that extra step to support my efforts we'll call it a fair trade and it will give me some encouragement to write another book." Will that one be about Playing To Lose? [Via tipster and IC both at once!]