The Most Dangerous Games

The book follows an underground society who invite one hundred contestants to participate in a series of dangerous tests in extreme environments around the world. The purpose of these tests is to find "the One," a person whom they believe will be capable of using $1 billion to change the world.

The book is credited to author James Patterson and YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, who were introduced after MrBeast became interested in writing a novel. They met at MrBeast's studio in Greenville, North Carolina to discuss various potential story ideas.^[3] They began outlining a story based upon the premise of a deadly version of the Beast Games competition show.^[5][6] MrBeast compared the book's structure to the Odyssey, which is about a series of adventures at different places visited by a protagonist on a dangerous journey.^[7] Patterson reportedly mentored MrBeast in the craft of writing, and they met on a weekly basis to draft and edit the novel together.^[8]

Patterson and MrBeast intended to write a novel that would appeal to both children and adults.^[9] When the book was announced, MrBeast released a statement saying that he hoped the book would make younger generations interested in reading.^[10]

ABC News described the book's title as an homage to "The Most Dangerous Game", a 1924 short story by Richard Connell.^[11] However, in an interview with USA Today, MrBeast said that the similarity was a coincidence and that he had not read Connell's story.^[7]

On March 27, 2025, Deadline reported that there was an eight-figure bidding war over the novel's television and film adaptation rights.^[12] HarperCollins ultimately won the bidding war,^[5] which would be published under its William Morrow and Company imprint.^[3] It was reported that the book would be published in 15 languages in 2026.^[13]

In June 2026, the book's official title and cover were revealed, and it became available for pre-order.^[10] A trailer for the book was published on June 18, 2026.^[6]

The novel was published on September 1, 2026, by William Morrow and Company.^[2] An audiobook version of the novel is narrated by Nolan North and also features MrBeast.^[14]

Marketing

MrBeast and Patterson both promoted the book on social media,^[15] and appeared together on the morning news program Good Morning America to discuss it.^[9]

On July 17, 2026,^[16] MrBeast uploaded a YouTube short titled, "Read My Book, You Could Win $1,000,000."^[15] As part of the contest, the book's readers can participate in weekly challenges based on clues in the book to win a $1,000,000 prize.^[17][18]

Critical reception

Prior to the novel's release, Matt Patches of Polygon and Alexander Larman of The Spectator each compared its premise to The Hunger Games and The Running Man.^[19][20]

Imogen West-Knights of Slate gave the book a negative review, describing it as "very easy to read, nothing left implicit, plot-heavy, broken up into short chapters, superficial in its themes and characters."^[21] However, she noted that it did have potential to engage teenagers in reading.^[21]

It was well received by The Times.^[22]

Sales

The book debuted at #3 on the The New York Times Best Seller list,^[4] and reached #2 on Amazon's new releases list,^[8] and #9 on USA Today's bestseller list.^[23]

The day before the book's release, it was at #18 on Amazon's new releases list, and #1 on its mystery novels list.^[15] The Hollywood Reporter reported that it had low pre-order sales, "numbering in the four digits".^[15] On September 1, IGN reported that pre-order sales were higher than had been previously estimated and the book was "tracking well for a debut novel".^[24]