Politics is a matter of negotiation. Who gets what? And how much? The aim is to unite conflicting interests and to reach decisions concerning the distribution of money, power, security, autonomy etc. Usually, negotiations consist of tough and lengthy wrangling about what appear to be small steps of progress and minor compromises. Outside observers often find it difficult to understand why negotiations or attempts to settle conflicts succeed or fail. Which concessions have made an agreement possible or which demands have prevented it? Which strategic considerations are the actors led by? What scope are they given within institutional, domestic and other constraints? Which negotiation strategies are successful?

Simulating conflicts and negotiations provides a playful way of learning and understanding the political dynamics behind them. This is the exact goal of simulation games.After a negotiation or conflict situation has been chosen, the participants of the game proceed to assume the roles of the different parties and agents relevant to that situation. They have to represent their “character’s” interests convincingly and aim to make them prevail in negotiations. In order to achieve this, they must determine any existing scope for negotiation, use it to their advantage and recognise situations which call for compromise.

A simulation will, of course, never perfectly reflect reality. A simulation game is an abstraction which inevitably involves a certain amount of simplification. Our main focus lies with the aim of exposing the main driving forces and mechanisms of political decision making. Also, in a reflection of reality, crucial steps of negotiation are usually reached in an informal fashion. We therefore allow the necessary time frame for this aspect in our simulation games.