Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue

[I]n any given social situation it is frequently the case that many different transactions are taking place at one and the same time between members of the same group. Not one game is being played, but several, and, if the game metaphor may be stretched further, the problem about real life is that moving one's knight to QB3 may always be replied to with a lob across the net.

[Chapter 8, "The Character of Generalizations in Social Science and Their Lack of Predictive Power"]