Damage is a card game described in the science fiction novel Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. Like Poker, the game is simple and involves psychology and bluff, but it has added dimensions.

Each player must bring Lives to the table, these being individuals who are willing to be used as tokens in the game. Each time a player loses a showdown, one of his or her Lives is killed. When all Lives are gone, the player is out of the game. The incentive for the Lives is that if their player is the ultimate winner, they share in the winnings.

The most bizarre feature is that all the players are linked into a machine which allows each to project disturbing thoughts and emotions at the others. The object is to make players under- or overestimate their chances of winning, or to make reckless decisions and hasten the loss of their Lives. Spectators can tune in to the inner turmoil themselves, if their minds are stable (or twisted) enough to withstand it.

The game is illegal on almost all worlds. However it attracts players and aficionados, who delight in organizing games in places on the verge of destruction. It also attracts a subculture of people that relish in the emotional effects, similar to a drug culture. In the novel, that place is an Orbital called Vavatch, which is earmarked for destruction as part of the ongoing Culture Idiran war. The venue features equally bizarre, cruel and disturbing sideshows.

The Culture