Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Game | 2017 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 2 | How Much To..? | 2019 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 3 | The Game’s Season Break | 2018 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 4 | The Island | 2018 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 5 | How Much 2 | 2020 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 6 | Murder House: Who Will Survive? | 2020 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 7 | This or That | 2021 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
| 8 | To Face Your Fears | 2024 | Matt Shaw | Buy |
The Game series is Matt Shaw’s longest-running project, spanning eight books from 2017 to 2024. The premise places characters in a deadly competition format that Shaw uses to escalate tension, violence, and psychological horror across each successive entry. The structure lets him expand the world of The Game while finding new angles on the central concept: what happens when people are forced to participate in something designed to break them.
The series includes main entries alongside sidestep volumes like The Game’s Season Break and The Island, which explore corners of the world without always advancing the main plot directly. How Much To..? and its sequel How Much 2 push the financial desperation angle, while Murder House: Who Will Survive? brings a location-based horror element. To Face Your Fears (2024) brings the series forward after a gap, showing Shaw still has material to mine from the original concept.
Readers who enjoy survival horror with psychological underpinnings and graphic violence will find The Game to be one of Shaw’s most ambitious undertakings. Eight books across seven years is a significant commitment for an extreme horror series, and the longevity speaks to how much material the central premise can generate.