Picture this: You’re playing a strategy game. You are one point away from achieving victory, but one other player is also one point away. You must decide on one of four possible paths of action to win the point. The first path is a bit risky but could lead you to win. If this path doesn’t work, you will lose. The second path is guaranteed not to fail, but that option may not be quick enough to snatch the point. The third path will definitely prevent your opponent from winning, but it severely delays your victory, opening up possibilities of a third player getting enough points to win. The final option has an equal chance to win or to lose, similar to a coin flip. Which path do you choose? This situation reveals how we use critical thinking skills to figure out what option to take in the game. This decision-making skill is not only visible in board games, but also in real life. Strategy games require solid decision-making skills due to the fact that most strategy games mimic choices that we have to make in life.
Games come in all forms, whether its video games, board games, road-trip games played verbally, or traditional games played by a religious or cultural group. Within this vast landscape, there are many more sub categories such as educational games, Eurogames, role playing, war games and more). Out of all these variations, strategy games are the ones that most mimic real-life decisions. To win in strategy games, you can’t just rely on luck. You also need the ability to think a few turns ahead, make trade offs and decide on the play that gives you the best chance of success, all in a matter of seconds.
One strategy game that flawlessly demonstrates this fact is the classic Monopoly board game. The goal is to win by being the last one left with money. In order to accomplish this, not only do you need luck, but you need to know what properties to buy and when and where to build hotels so that your opponents’ money will promptly dwindle to nothing. Usually, you won’t waste money on terrible properties in Monopoly, but rather save it for high value properties like “Boardwalk” and “Park Place”. This is similar to when people decide what to buy in real life. People tend to avoid squandering their money in order to save up for something like a spacious house or a magnificent mansion. However, simply the beauty of the house isn’t enough. It needs to be in a good neighborhood. The main reason why “Boardwalk” and “Park Place” cost such a high amount in monopoly is due to the high payoff (high rent an opponent has to pay if he lands on those properties) which is akin to a desirable, good location in real estate. The rent per house in “Boardwalk” or “Park Place” is higher than other properties. This compares to the fact that in real life, you can buy a nice house anywhere, but the location will greatly affect the price and value of the house. A house in the middle of nowhere will definitely not be worth as much as a house next to a renowned university.
It is indisputable that understanding the similarities between decisions in real life and decisions in strategy games is key when it comes to deciding what choices to make in both aspects. However, how do you decide what to do? The complicated process of making this decision can be condensed into five easy steps.
A five-step process for decision making in games
Step 1: Evaluate your options. If you have to decide on something, think of all the choices you can make, even if the choices seem weak. Evaluating ALL your choices will help you pick the best option and rule out other bad options.
Step 2: Eliminate options. This step is different for strategy games and real life.
For games: Eliminate all options that do not favor you or ultimately win you the game. Do not eliminate any option where you have a chance to win, even if that chance to win is low. Only eliminate options that have a 0% chance to help you win. Doing this will clear your head of the distractions that unhelpful options can cause.
In life: Eliminate all options that do not lead to an outcome that you desire for yourself or for someone close to you. An outcome can disbenefit you, but if it helps someone that you are close with or care for, then you should consider that option.
Step 3: Look for the options with the largest gain. Now you have identified the beneficial options. Among the beneficial options, some will give you the largest gain in terms of points or immediate victory. If you can identify such options, the choice is easy. But in most cases, in games and in real life, many options can be similar to each other in terms of perceived benefit and will require you to decide between very close choices. If that is the case, do not eliminate anything. .
Step 4: Compare Worst Case Scenarios. Now what if you choose a beneficial option that had a chance of a positive outcome (per previous steps) but also had a chance of failure? Think to yourself: “What if this utterly and totally failed?” You may lose the game immediately or may be severely disadvantaged. But this doesn’t mean you have to eliminate the outcome, just yet. Look for an option that does not have this outcome. If there is such an option, then eliminate all the options that have a chance of failure and stick to ones that don’t. However, if all the beneficial options have a possibility of failure, do not eliminate any of the options.
Step 5: Evaluate Riskiest vs Fastest vs Shared Benefit. This is perhaps the hardest step. You must choose one of the remaining options left after running them through the previous four steps. If there is exactly one option left, then you can choose that and your ordeal of choosing will be done! However, if there are still multiple options, then you must examine each option carefully for risk and time. One question to ask yourself is, “Which option will help me achieve my goal the fastest?” Another question to ask yourself is “Which option has the most risk?” In the previous step even the options with high risk were to be considered. However, in this last step, if there is a clear distinction between options with low risk and high risk, you have to decide whether the chance of getting to your goal faster is most important to you or lowering risk of failure. If it is the former, then choose the option that will get you to your goal faster. If it is the latter, eliminate all the options with high risk even if it means you will reach your goal at a later time. The question you need to ask is, if you wait for the gain at a later time, will it be too late to win? There is one final question that is only applicable in real life. You could ask yourself, “Which option will help the people that helped me the most or that I care about”. If there are two options with the same risk and reward, but one of them also benefits your allies, (family, friends, etc.) eliminate the other options that do not help your allies.
In the end, after all these questions, if there is still more than one option at play , then pick any option at random and eliminate the others.
Studies conducted by scientists show that the frontal lobe, the part of the brain that activates when you are making decisions, is very active when you are making life decisions. This was expected. However, what scientists didn’t expect is that this important part of the brain also activates when you are playing strategy games. This critical piece of evidence shows that strategy games mimic real life, and it shows that good decision making is critical in both real life and strategy games.
In conclusion, since board games copy real life so well, the same solid decision-making skills that are required in life are also required in strategy games, as shown in the Monopoly board game and in the five-step decision making process.
Now the next time you find yourself struggling about what decision to make in a board game or in real life, perhaps you will remember the five-step procedure, and just maybe, it will lighten the pressure of choice.
Sources:
https://www.ultraboardgames.com/monopoly/game-rules.php
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/brain_tumor/about-brain-tumors/how-the-brain-works.html
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