All the players on Hawthorne Island (except possibly Grayson Hawthorne) desperately want to win the game. Some are willing to go to any lengths to achieve this goal, and others aren’t. At the far end of the spectrum of ambition to win are players like Rohan, who uses his connections to gather secret information about the game and its players even before arriving on the island. He cheats by ensuring that Gigi finds an invitation to the game, an attempt to manipulate the odds in his favor. Once on the island, he uses both charm and intimidation to influence other players’ choices and makes it clear that he’ll do whatever it takes to win. Knowing what kind of a person Rohan is, Nash tells him early on that it’s unlikely he’ll win the Grandest Game. Nash says that Hawthorne “games have heart,” implying that the way Rohan treats others will prevent him from winning (66). This conveys a clear message about the importance of balancing one’s ambitions with one’s ethics—a task that Rohan isn’t the least bit concerned with.

On the other end of the spectrum are players like Gigi and Odette.