Strategy Games

#Reviewing Sid Meier’s! Lessons in Game Design: Civilization and Wargames

#Reviewing Sid Meier’s! Lessons in Game Design: Civilization and Wargames

Constructing open worlds and the freedom to develop innovative strategies that incubate strategic minds or threaten authoritarian societies are the unexplored frontiers. The lessons in game design that Civilization offers are important for the developing wargame research community to understand as decision-making games become a critical part of the military education process.

Wei Qi or Won’t Xi: The Siren Call of Chinese Strategic Culture

Wei Qi or Won’t Xi: The Siren Call of Chinese Strategic Culture

When strategies come into conflict with one another...to assume this is due primarily to different cultures risks missing the forest for the trees. Rather than asserting what Chinese culture tells U.S. policymakers about how Chinese strategy may operate, the focus of American strategic planners should be on how Chinese strategy actually operates.

Veni Vidi Video Games: #Reviewing Europa Universalis

Veni Vidi Video Games: #Reviewing Europa Universalis

Video games are often discounted as entertainment, but I and many others have found they can be valuable tools to teach history, international relations, and strategy in an engrossing and engaging way that complements traditional academic learning. I have learned valuable lessons about grand strategy, international relations, and history from games. Historical strategy games, used over a long period, might also teach students about grand strategy. But they also teach shorter-term diplomacy. In Europa Universalis I have used the power of alliances of convenience, and I have learned how to predict invasions by reading diplomatic cues and troop movements.