Kindle
$3.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Kindle Price: $3.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $27.55

Save: $20.06 (73%)

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Cosimo Yap
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Cosimo Yap (Author), Aimee Hale (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 3,022 ratings
See all formats and editions
An Artificial Intelligence, LitRPG, Cyberpunk adventure.

The Earth is changing. The alien invasion brought social upheaval, advanced technology, and an armada of peacekeeping robots. But Alan, a college student pursuing a now-useless degree, cares little about all of this. He has only one thing on his mind: the Game.

A fully immersive virtual reality, the Game appears to be a major part of the invading civilization. Alan can't wait to play, recklessly diving into the digital universe. Soon though, Alan realizes the Game is anything but simple, and the stakes are higher than he ever imagined.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 3
    The Gam3
  2. Print length
    355 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    March 23, 2016
  6. File size
    2843 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
All 3 for you in this series See full series
See included books
Total Price: $13.97
By clicking on above button, you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use
More like Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1)
Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1
Previous page
  1. Ascend Online
    Kindle Edition
    $6.99
  5. Jake's Magical Market
    Kindle Edition
    $4.99
  11. The Primal Hunter
    Kindle Edition
    $4.99
  18. Awaken Online: Catharsis
    Kindle Edition
    $2.99
  27. First Login (Chronicle Book 1)
    Kindle Edition
    $4.99
Next page
Loading...

Editorial Reviews

Review


✯✯✯✯✯There are maybe three really good LitRPG books set in a SciFi world/universe and this is, maybe, the best of them... I would recommend this book to any science fiction reader or LitRPG fan. You can't possibly go wrong buying this one.----✯✯✯✯✯ The story is both well structured and captivating. Drawing readers in with the game system that encompasses a wide spectrum of battle styles as well as a balanced leveling. ----
✯✯✯✯✯The only thing that stopped me from finishing it in a single sitting was my inability to ignore the necessities of sleep. Give it a try, download the sample of you must, you will not regret it.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01DFCNAPG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (March 23, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 23, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2843 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 355 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 3,022 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Cosimo Yap

Cosimo Yap

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

A California native living in the Bay Area, Cosimo Yap has spent much of his life playing games and reading fiction. Opening Moves is his debut novel.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
3,022 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

CJ
5.0 out of 5 stars I want the sequel
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
**May contain minor spoilers. Small non-spoiler TL;DR at the end.**

Written mostly from a first-person POV, the novel is a fantastical Sci-Fi adventure of a young man taken from ordinary life and given the opportunity to join "The Game," a universal virtual-reality with real-world implications.

Join Alan, a Machine Lord Rogue, assisted by his omnipresent AI, Eve, as they wholeheartedly trudge forward into the unknown. They will face terrorist attacks, practically omnipotent figures, and the many consequences that arise from their actions. Every step they take will unleash new possibilities, new choices, and new insight to the reality around them.

This was and is a web-novel and has been critiqued by many readers throughout its development. This is just the first book in what has great potential in being a Sci-Fi classic; the kind of book that sets the tone for following novels to come for many years. The ideas may be considered cliche but are incorporated such that the novel is now more that the sum of its parts.

TL;DR
I really like this book. Unfortunately, I feel this book series may end up like the sequels to a different novel, Princes of the Earth (written by Michael Kurland): unfinished. However, I await with bated breath for either's sequel should they ever come. Small shout-out to the author: "You'd like the previously mentioned novel. It isn't VR but it matches your style and has some interesting ideas that would fit well in your books."
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Daniel E. Vickerman
4.0 out of 5 stars Trades one common problem for another.
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
Like others have said the writing is pretty good and the story engaging but it's characters hold the story back. Alan is a socially inept wimp that resembles the archetype of a nerd more than a real character, especially at the start. Throughout the book he is very indecisive, using his AI as more of a baby sitter and motivational coach than a tool. The entire first half of the book is basically on rails, him just following whatever his AI says he should do and being punished every time he steps out of line. Thankfully things start to change when he gets his class, and starts to merge more with his machine. He get's new abilities and senses but his personality doesn't change at all. This is where the problems begin.

Even after merging with his AI, he is still indecisive and unbelievably anxious around social situations. He still starts every sentence with uh or um, and goes red at the idea of losing his virginity or even talking to other people, especially girls. (By the way sex isn't that hard to get for god's sake! He is doing very well in the game which automatically makes him into the top 1% of the 1%, if it's such a big deal he could visit a brothel or something if he somehow can't find a girlfriend. Also drop all ums out of your dialogue, your book will be so much better.) This should NOT happen, as he becomes less and less human he should stop feeling these mostly human emotions and at the very least be able to become more decisive and confident. I know the author has confidence problems, but you are holding your character back. His mindset should have changed after all he's went through, even without becoming less human, but it hasn't. The fact that he still is overwhelmingly awed by beauty or clams up in social situations borders on the ridiculous by the end of the book.

This is a common problem in these sort of stories, nerdy authors making nerdy character's that end up becoming too wimpy and whiny to take seriously or enjoy. Alan does not go that far, he has his moments, but they are few and far in between. Thankfully Alan does not seem to be insanely lucky like pretty much every character in this sort of genre, though the ending pushed the limits of credibility. I hope in the next book Alan actually becomes a man and stops needing his AI baby sitter, he's past that stage now. Also try not to push the boundaries of luck too much will ya?
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jordan S. Stocks
5.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat on par with the likes of Ready Player One and Epic
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is what I would consider 'LitRPG' done right. I've got a love-hate relationship with the genre, because most take good ideas and then fail to let them live up to their potential. Either because of poor world building, sloppy writing, their existence in a solely online-serial format, etc... However, Opening Moves (and the Gam3 series) has managed to do almost everything 'right.' Of course, that's just my opinion.

First, the biggest hurdle with these stories is getting the reader invested. Either because the technology is poorly explained, important things are glossed over, or the setting has a flaw. Somehow, the author has managed to turn a relatively improbable explanation for life-like full immersion VR and form it into something that makes you, "Yeah, sure, I guess that kinda makes sense." Which allows you to suspend your disbelief enough to enjoy the story. A universe-spanning super civilization invades because it has imposed a sort of digital enslavement of its denizens (and creating a sort of class system of Non-Players and Players) that is ruthlessly enforced by a fleet of ultra-advanced AI ships that are ever-present.

Later books in the series kinda jump off the deep end, but overall it's all good. Well worth the $4 per book (at the time of writing).
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars What is it with face-palming in LitRPG books?
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2018
Verified Purchase
If you like the LitRPG genre i highly recommend this book as it is the best I have read this far, by far. Definitely one of the few that took a sci-fi over a fantasy approach but still included fantasy like elements (melee weapons but with high tech and psi elements to approximate magic). This story has game within game elements and a very original & refreshing approach to the character getting into the game. In this series the characters aren't trapped within the game and actions in the game DO have real word affects up to and including control of the planet's resources. Oh back to the face-palming - repeated use of that action which I've seen repeatedly in three separate LitRPG series (3 different authors) is the only thing that made me cringe in the book. I'm not sure if it is a LitRPG thing or maybe a Russian thing but it is an overused expression in these types of books. LitRPG isn't actually a Russian originated genre as many seen to think as I believe that Joel Rosenberg's Guardian of the Flame series was quite a few years earlier despite it being more related to IRL jumping into old style D20 D&D as opposed to the Russian books that went with MMORPG.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Jess. (JessReviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed reading this book. The storyline was great, the plot developed well and I liked the characters.

Alan was a great character and I enjoyed seeing him learn about the Game and how it works. I think he had a great character development from starting out a little ignorant and gradually learning that there’s more to it than he thinks.

The world building was brilliant. It was well thought out and well described. You could visualise everything.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a well thought out role playing book. I liked all the different types of characters and I loved the pop up messages with the quests and abilities. The characters are great and the storyline is great. I would definitely recommend this book.

Jessreviews.co.uk
Report
Client d'Amazon
4.0 out of 5 stars J'adore
Reviewed in France on April 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
J'adore l'intrigue et les personnages. L'editage laisse parfois à desirer mais sinon c'est parfait. Faîtes vous plaisir et lisez le.
Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, need more!!!
Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great blend of game mechanics and story telling with characters that grip you. I was interested in the main character who like most people doesn't go out and start fighting for his planet. He cares about himself first. So what if Earth gets screwed? As long as he's safe and everything's stable its all good. Refreshing to see a different mindset! Well written and edited. I've read both this version and the one on RRL, happy to support all of Cosmio's work and eagerly waiting for more of it to be published or posted :)
Report
Samantha Lane
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
Reviewed in Australia on August 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
I absolutely loved this.

I usually prefer my LitRPG fantasy flavoured rather than sci-fi; I really dislike space opera; and, I hate robots: so it means something when I say I found this book to be brilliant. This might be my new favourite in the LitRPG genre. (It's knocking on the door of Ready Player 1 and Ender's Game).

The plotting and politics are wonderfully complex, yet not dense nor difficult to follow.
The characters are great, multi-faceted, and they grow!
The maths and computer science stuff was way over my head, and something I would usually skip past, but for the first time I actually read every word of it.
The writing's terrific.
Kudos to the author for writing a new classic, and a 5 star recommendation from me to new readers.

The class/skill/levelling/game system and their interactions is inspired - by far the best I've seen or read.
3 people found this helpful
 Report
NiceCat
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice real world story
Reviewed in Germany on September 15, 2016
Verified Purchase
One of the few games where the "real life" story is good.
The stories of Alexey Osadchuk are the best LITRPGs there are, but this author is really good too.
In most LITRPG books the "real life" (RL) part is just not of interest, they should remove it. I don't care about it.
In this book it is different because the RL part is relevant for the game world and vice versa.

I like the protagonist, the world and the story.
There are better LITRPG books than this, but not many.

I think you have to get it.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report