Gods' Games We Play

Gods' Games We Play (神はに飢えている.) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kei Sazane and illustrated by Toiro Tomose. It began serialization online in September 2020 on Kadokawa's user-generated novel publishing website, Kakuyomu. It was later published by Media Factory, with eight volumes under the MF Bunko J imprint since January 2021. A manga adaptation with art by Kapiko Toriumi has been serialized in Media Factory's seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive since August 2021. It has been collected three tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Liden Films aired from April to June 2024.

Premise
"Play of the Gods" is the battle of wits created by gods who grow bored and have too much free time. The person who has received Arise, a special power, are known as Apostles, and they are allowed to compete in the "Play of the Gods", if they can achieve ten victories, they will be granted a wish. However, there has yet to be a victor. Leoleshea, a former Goddess, awakes from a long slumber and declares, "Bring forth the person who is the best in this era!" Fay, a human who is currently undefeated, has achieved three straight victories in the game, and who is expected to be the "best rookie in recent years", is nominated. He decides to team up with Leoleshea and take on the "Play of the Gods". Thus, the battle of wits between Fay and Leoleshea begins.

Characters

 * Fay (フェイ)


 * Leoleshea (レオレーシェ)


 * Pearl Diamond (パール・ダイアモンド)


 * Nel Reckless (ネル・レックレス)


 * Miranda (ミランダ)


 * Dax (ダークス)


 * Kelritch (ケルリッチ)


 * Mysterious Beautiful Girl

Light novel
Written by Kei Sazane, the series began serialization online in September 2020 on Kadokawa's user-generated novel publishing website, Kakuyomu. It was later published as a light novel with illustrations by Toiro Tomose by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J imprint from January 25, 2021. As of May 2024, eight volumes have been released.

At Sakura-Con 2022, Yen Press announced that they licensed the series for English publication.

Manga
A manga adaptation with art by Kapiko Toriumi began serialization in Media Factory's seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive on August 27, 2021. It has been collected in three tankōbon volumes.

Anime
On January 21, 2022, an anime adaptation was announced with a promotional video narrated by Saki Miyashita. On July 24 of the same year, during the "Natsu no Gakuensai 2022" event for MF Bunko J, it was announced that the anime would be a television series produced by Liden Films and directed by Tatsuya Shiraishi, with scripts written by NTL, character designed by Yoshihiro Watanabe, and music composed by Gin from Busted Rose. The series aired from April 1 to June 24, 2024, on AT-X and other networks. The opening theme song is "NewGame", performed by rock band AliA, while the ending theme song is "I'm Game!", performed by Hina Tachibana. Crunchyroll licensed the series.

Reception
In the 2022 edition of Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, the novel series ranked 15th in the bunkobon category, and 9th in the new work category.