START WITH A DECISION
Explore how wargames help people examine choices and their consequences. Play an example, question its assumptions and discover tools for thinking about a problem. No military or gaming experience is required.
No prior experience needed. Begin with the rules and a worked example.
WHY WARGAME?
A plan meets someone else’s priorities. Playing a role can help you notice the constraints and competing interests that a written case leaves easy to overlook. After an action, ask how the other side’s response changed your thinking.
A limited budget or an uncertain report can force a difficult choice. Ask which rule produced the consequence and what that rule assumes about the world. A convincing game can still teach a misleading lesson.
What did you expect? Which decision changed the situation? What information did you lack, and did another player surprise you?
Then separate the result from the explanation. Did it follow from a choice, a rule or chance? What would you need to check before applying the lesson outside this game? Winning and learning are different outcomes.
Reading connections: Perla and McGrady, “Why Wargaming Works” (2011); Lacey, “Wargaming in the Classroom: An Odyssey” (2016). A playthrough can generate questions and reveal assumptions; it does not by itself establish a real-world prediction.
BEFORE CHOOSING SOFTWARE
A sketch and a conversation are enough to start. Explore what a tool makes visible, what it hides and whether it fits the question you want to examine.
A map shows where things happen. A route diagram shows what connects to what. Try both: does distance matter, or is the important question who depends on whom?
Open Island Relay in the sandbox and trace one route. What does the diagram tell you about access? What would you still need to know before interpreting a delay?
Role cards describe what someone can see and decide. A list of pieces describes available resources or forces. In a military game, an “order of battle” lists units and their capabilities.
Who has influence over the problem but is missing from the board? How might including that perspective change what players notice?
A resource track can make scarcity visible. Cards can introduce information or events; dice can represent a range of possible outcomes. Each choice makes assumptions that deserve examination.
Is the player uncertain before choosing, or does uncertainty affect the result afterward? Would a die represent the uncertainty you care about, or simply add randomness?
A decision table connects inputs to an outcome. An action record lets people revisit what happened. Together they can help distinguish a player’s choice from the procedure used to resolve it.
Could two people follow the same rule with the same inputs and agree on the result? What would you record to explain a disagreement afterward?
Explore fictional components in the sandbox →
The sandbox supports discussion and experimentation. Students develop their own research, game concepts and assessed work. It does not generate a game or an assignment.
Reading connections: Dunnigan, “Simulation Game Design,” in Tabletop: Analog Game Design, pp. 27–31; the course sessions on mechanics, rules and prototyping. Enrolled students should use the current syllabus and Canvas for required readings.
CHOOSE YOUR STARTING POINT
Start with an isolated influence example. Predict the result, reveal the explanation and try again. No physical components are needed for this short example.
Try the 2-minute example →Follow a published game’s rules with a partner. Explain who acts, what they can choose and how the board changes.
Explore Battle for Moscow →Use a fictional example to examine what its components represent. Consider what the model leaves out and which tools could help you explore a different question.
Explore the sandbox →Guidance is optional at every level. Course students: use Canvas for assignment requirements. Battle for Moscow is the shared class exercise and does not count toward the two-game activity.
THE PRACTICE LIBRARY
Find game resources, try the Red Sea companion,
or explore fictional components.
Find the published rules, an online game and a beginner video. Our two-human-side teaching version is undergoing public-release review.
Find game resources →Examine a map, pieces and resource tracks in a fictional setting. Ask what each component represents and how it shapes a player’s choices.
Open the exploration sandbox →Keep cards at the table. Use the screen to calculate influence changes and record the results for review.
Open Red Sea companion →PAPER + SHARED SCREEN
Move physical pieces at the table while the screen shows a shared map or resource track. Use the same labels and rules in both versions.
Explore paper-and-screen tools →Display only information everyone is allowed to see. Keep private roles and hidden information separate.
Compare setup time and rule errors with and without the screen. Keep a paper copy ready.
A future teaching topic: what changes when AI occupies a player seat, and who checks its actions? Current tools use human decisions; no AI player is implemented.
FOR THE CLASSROOM
“How to Play: Battle For Moscow” by The Name Of The Game. Rules begin at 3:14; the playthrough begins at 17:00.
The video uses the older GDW edition. Check the edition of the game you are playing.
Watch on YouTube ↗Demonstrate one attack. In pairs, students take turns playing and checking the rules. Each person then explains an outcome without help. Use the published rules to check each result.
Find the teaching resources →