What is the NSDM Game?

The National Security Decision Making (NSDM) Game is a fast-paced, challenging simulation of contemporary politics and eternal strategic principles. It is modeled after the simulations used by senior U.S. Government officials to explore geopolitical options. NSDM has been presented at the U.S. Naval War College, the U.S. Air University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, Ashland University and at a wide variety of civilian venues such as Border Wars, Call to Arms, Cold Wars, DexCon, Dragon*Con, Dreamation, Fall In, Gen Con, Gen Con SoCal, HistoriCon and Origins.

Each of the players in this political-economic-military seminar game occupies a role in which he or she can affect the formulation of national policy in their country. Most players find NSDM to be intellectually stimulating, vigorously competitive, and unlike any other gaming opportunity they have ever had.

Players will receive instruction on the NSDM Game from former game directors and controllers from the U.S. Naval War College. The game will be directed by personnel from the Department of Defense with the assistance of subject matter experts from private industry and academia.

Players will be assigned to individual roles within a variety of nation-states. "Real world" dynamics will inexorably draw these player-states toward cooperation in some areas and conflict in others. Meanwhile, within each state, players will inevitably find themselves aligned with some players in the pursuit of common goals, and against others as each seeks to obtain advantages for their interest group and achieve personal political ascendancy.

Concurrently, the game control group will inject stimuli that challenge the players' abilities to react, such as regional wars, massive outbreaks of disease, or major natural catastrophes causing heavy loss of life and property.

• A player in the U.S. cell might be the president, a congressman, the national media, or a regional commander engaging terrorists.
• PRC players might represent the Communist Party, internal security forces, the Peoples' Liberation Army, entrepreneurs, or Muslim Uighur separatists in Xinkiang.
• A Russian player might be president, minister of defense, a spokesman for nationalist forces, a leader of liberalizing elements, or Duma members from various factions.
• Iranian players might represent the theocracy, bureaucracy, industry, or military.
• A Japanese player might be the head of the Japan Defense Agency, a member of Sumitomo's board of directors, a MITI bureaucrat, or a member of the Diet.
• India, Pakistan, the DPRK (North Korea), various European and many Middle Eastern states are often represented by players as well.

And unlike other war games where one "team" of players defeats other teams, in the NSDM Game all players are individually ranked by the degree to which they gain advantage for the group they represent.

We offer an eight-hour game set in the contemporary world, called the NSDM "MegaScenario" Game.

And we offer an eight-hour retrospective NSDM Game that recreates the national security decision-making structures of the U.S., the USSR, the PRC and Israel in the 1960s, called the NSDM "ColdWar-60s" Game.

Also, we offer a four-hour short-format game set in the contemporary world, called the NSDM "FastPlay" Game. Always wanted to try NSDM but didn't want to commit eight hours? Here's your chance to see if you enjoy NSDM while only committing a four-hour game slot.