Why this game now?

Sep 1

Like many times before, nations are entering a new period of world history that will create unclear futures for the human experience. Our politics, climate, laws, cultural norms and possessions will all continue to change rapidly as the world wrestles to find our new path. This means there is unprecedented volatility that people, companies, governments and cultures will need to manage in the coming years.

The recent end of the “War on Terrorism”, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rising tensions between the US and China, and the rampant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the end of an era when the US was a single great power, capable of enforcing its rules as it sees fit. The truly global nature of this turmoil – the awareness, involvement and connection of people and resources from previously unfamiliar places, makes this a rare opportunity for people to investigate for themselves, how our world works.

Studies consistently show that simulations, games and case studies are some of the best ways for people to learn and understand subjects, because of their desire to win, fear of losing, and dopamine hits from the challenge of the game. Thus, I built this game in order to give people the ability to test, take risks, lose, and feel the rush of victory through a game involving these complex topics that we all talk, read, feel or engage with every day. Hopefully, through this game, we can all be more structured, strategic, empathetic, and longer-termed in our thinking about the world.

I hope this game helps people envision how our world will change over the next 50 years, and what the world might look like in the distant future, from a 10,000-foot view.

Why Simulate Geopolitics?

I like to define geopolitics as: How people group themselves (nations), manage themselves (politics), and negotiate with other groups (international relations), in our geographic limitations (geography).

People talk about this every day, directly and indirectly, without realizing it. “Gas prices are so high.” “Did you hear about the crazy weather in ___?” “Why can’t (choose a country) just mind its own business?” “It’s all changing so fast.” “My son is deploying abroad again next month.” “I just don’t trust them.”

I hope players will have a better understanding of the driving forces behind why countries act the way they do:

1) the structure of the world countries must operate in,

2) the national themes that help or hinder countries’ actions,

3) the incentives countries respond to in the modern era.

New Period of World History:

We’ve seen these shifts throughout history, though most recently: The end of the Cold War made the US as a sole superpower capable of using its power unilaterally anywhere in the world, before that the end of WW2 created the Cold War which split the world into two and led to decolonialization, before that the end of WW1 created a rigid period of wealth and domestic restructuring, and before that the end of the Napoleonic wars created an era of revolution and brittle kingdoms in Europe and increased colonial extraction through the rest of the 19th century.

The world today however, is: