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Shell Game
When a group of men crash to the surface of an alien planet, they are hemmed in on all sides by a deadly, un-crossable bog. Attacked by an unknown enemy, the group grows increasingly uncertain as the violence escalates while the enemy combatant remains unseen and no bodies are ever recovered.
Philip K. Dick was an American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His first short story, "Beyond Lies the Wub," was published shortly after his high school graduation. Some of his most famous short stories were adapted for film, including "The Minority Report," "Paycheck," "Second Variety" (adapted into the film Screamers) and "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (adapted into the film Total Recall).
HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.
Philip K. Dick was an American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His first short story, "Beyond Lies the Wub," was published shortly after his high school graduation. Some of his most famous short stories were adapted for film, including "The Minority Report," "Paycheck," "Second Variety" (adapted into the film Screamers) and "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (adapted into the film Total Recall).
HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.
14 pages, Unknown Binding
First published September 1, 1954
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61 people want to read
About the author
Philip K. Dick
2,010 books22.5k followersPhilip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 11, 2019
First published in Galaxy (September 1954), this vision of a society completely composed of paranoids is as horrifying as anything Dick has written, and yet the trappings and accouterments of this lunatic society seem uncomfortably familiar: electronic warning systems, armed security details, interrogation techniques, extorted confessions, etc.
We know something is desperately wrong with these people—and eventually Dick explains to us their origin and history—but we know them because a similar craziness has infected all of us too, they—my fellow hypocrite, my fellow reader—are our likenesses, our brothers!
In 1964, Dick cannibalized “Shell Game as part of his novel Clans of the Alphane Moon
We know something is desperately wrong with these people—and eventually Dick explains to us their origin and history—but we know them because a similar craziness has infected all of us too, they—my fellow hypocrite, my fellow reader—are our likenesses, our brothers!
In 1964, Dick cannibalized “Shell Game as part of his novel Clans of the Alphane Moon
March 2, 2019
“‘A myth can be picked up by a whole society, believed and taught to the next generation. Gods, fairies, witches – believing a thing doesn’t make it true. For centuries, Terrans believed the Earth was flat.’”
We’re right in a fight of a colony of settlers, ensconced on an island surrounding by hostile swamps, against an unseen, yet insidious enemy, and only with great effort can the invisible threat be repelled – for now, that is.
The colonists in PKD’s story Shell Game, published in the “Galaxy Science Fiction” magazine in 1954, don’t know anything but life under constant menace. Their enemy is so crafty that they are not even sure as to his identity, and as to the means of destruction at this enemy’s disposal, why, they are endless and range from the poisoning of water supplies to the use of inodorous toxic gas. They may even have their spies within the group of colonist leaders, or why is this Fisher guy just digging for something in the swampy mud and then pretends he didn’t do anything? When they manage to excavate the ship that had taken them to the planet, all they find are tapes suggesting that the people on board, i.e. the present-day colonists, were suffering from paranoia. This faces the wary colonists with yet another dilemma: Can they trust the tapes, or are they another ruse employed by their unseen enemy, with the aim to sow doubts as to their own sanity? When one of the men suggests a test, the hidden truth suddenly becomes obvious.
Well, actually it doesn’t, in that even at the end of the story we cannot be completely sure whether there is an unseen enemy hiding out there in the swamps, or even whether the colonists identified this enemy correctly. Instead, the story leaves its readers with the uncanny feeling that there are certain power structures, especially in the military but also in political systems as such, where it can be useful for those wielding power to breed an atmosphere of distrust and paranoia – or to imbue people with panic and feelings of guilt in order to control their actions or make them behave in a particular way. We look down our noses at how gullible people were in the Middle Ages, considering it a sign of naivety and simplicity that people back then were ready to pay a pretty penny for a letter of indulgence, but the readiness to subscribe to a belief that is generally held and considered the way any decent person would feel and think and to go with the crowd is still extent in modern us. If the majority hold the same kind of myth in veneration, this may enable society to function pretty well – provided, maybe, there are some scapegoats to define oneself against – until the actions and behaviour created in people by that common myth fail to stand the test of reality. But then, you might act like an idiot for quite a long time before Reality clouts you back to your senses and makes you call out, like one of the protagonists in this story:
Maybe, that’s the reason why we are all here on this planet?
We’re right in a fight of a colony of settlers, ensconced on an island surrounding by hostile swamps, against an unseen, yet insidious enemy, and only with great effort can the invisible threat be repelled – for now, that is.
The colonists in PKD’s story Shell Game, published in the “Galaxy Science Fiction” magazine in 1954, don’t know anything but life under constant menace. Their enemy is so crafty that they are not even sure as to his identity, and as to the means of destruction at this enemy’s disposal, why, they are endless and range from the poisoning of water supplies to the use of inodorous toxic gas. They may even have their spies within the group of colonist leaders, or why is this Fisher guy just digging for something in the swampy mud and then pretends he didn’t do anything? When they manage to excavate the ship that had taken them to the planet, all they find are tapes suggesting that the people on board, i.e. the present-day colonists, were suffering from paranoia. This faces the wary colonists with yet another dilemma: Can they trust the tapes, or are they another ruse employed by their unseen enemy, with the aim to sow doubts as to their own sanity? When one of the men suggests a test, the hidden truth suddenly becomes obvious.
Well, actually it doesn’t, in that even at the end of the story we cannot be completely sure whether there is an unseen enemy hiding out there in the swamps, or even whether the colonists identified this enemy correctly. Instead, the story leaves its readers with the uncanny feeling that there are certain power structures, especially in the military but also in political systems as such, where it can be useful for those wielding power to breed an atmosphere of distrust and paranoia – or to imbue people with panic and feelings of guilt in order to control their actions or make them behave in a particular way. We look down our noses at how gullible people were in the Middle Ages, considering it a sign of naivety and simplicity that people back then were ready to pay a pretty penny for a letter of indulgence, but the readiness to subscribe to a belief that is generally held and considered the way any decent person would feel and think and to go with the crowd is still extent in modern us. If the majority hold the same kind of myth in veneration, this may enable society to function pretty well – provided, maybe, there are some scapegoats to define oneself against – until the actions and behaviour created in people by that common myth fail to stand the test of reality. But then, you might act like an idiot for quite a long time before Reality clouts you back to your senses and makes you call out, like one of the protagonists in this story:
”’We’re a bunch of nuts […] A shipload of psychos who got wrecked by a chance meteor.’”
Maybe, that’s the reason why we are all here on this planet?
January 6, 2018
Absolutely brilliant short story
ebook available at
https://archive.org/details/galaxymag...
ebook available at
https://archive.org/details/galaxymag...
December 10, 2018
This short story tells of a group of militant soldiers waging war against unknown alien attackers. With underlying themes of betrayal and paranoia, there were some great one liners from Dick, notably:
If we’re all insane, how would we know?
And how true. Where I don’t mind a little Sci-Fi reading now and then, I didn’t find this as gripping as expected, but still enjoyable for a quick read nonetheless.
If we’re all insane, how would we know?
And how true. Where I don’t mind a little Sci-Fi reading now and then, I didn’t find this as gripping as expected, but still enjoyable for a quick read nonetheless.
February 17, 2019
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2021
Clans of the Alphane Moon is related to this somehow. I think if i were to reread this short story, I may have a 3 or 4 star rating to give.
January 20, 2017
Wonderful read about paranoia, and reality.
It has common ideas with "do androids dream of electric sheep?" of trust, and truth. Has you guessing who is the traitor, like you would guess who is the android.
It has common ideas with "do androids dream of electric sheep?" of trust, and truth. Has you guessing who is the traitor, like you would guess who is the android.
November 27, 2016
what a perfect worst case scenario...
April 8, 2018
This pre-dates the Vietnam War, but it fits as a scathing commentary on the confusion of the common soldier. Great read!
May 3, 2020
Paranoid. And how everything becomes part of it. Just absolutely amazing, nothing to comment. How a whole society can become paranoid. Are the non-paranoid then insane?
May 17, 2024
fun, dark. rating this one a little lower as i found it just a wee bit hard to follow at times. maybe that's on me. it's been a bit of a week & i'm a little chewed up mentally.
November 13, 2021
Wow.. that was brilliant!!
April 14, 2017
paranoid robotların kendilerini bilimsel ölçütlere göre test edip teşhis koymaları düşüncesi çok ilginç.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews