The authors of this report developed a strategic-level structured card game examining a gray zone competition between Russia and the West in the Balkans. They detail the development of this game, including key design decisions, elements of the game, how the game is played, and the undergirding research approach. They conclude with a discussion of recommendations for future applications of the game design.

Gaming Gray Zone Tactics

Design Considerations for a Structured Strategic Game

Becca Wasser, Jenny Oberholtzer, Stacie L. Pettyjohn, William Mackenzie

ResearchPublished Dec 11, 2019

To explore how Russia could use gray zone tactics and to what effect, the authors of this report developed a strategic-level structured card game examining a gray zone competition between Russia and the West in the Balkans. In these games, the Russian player seeks to expand its influence and undermine NATO unity while competing against a European team and a U.S. team seeking to defend their allies from Russia's gray zone activities without provoking an outright war. This report details the authors' development of this game, including key design decisions, elements of the game, how the game is played, and the undergirding research approach. The authors conclude with recommendations for future applications of the game design.

Key Findings

The Balkans gray zone game demonstrated that structured strategy games are useful exploratory tools and this model could be adapted for other contexts and adversaries.

  • While the gray zone remains a murky topic, this game demonstrated that it was feasible to break the gray zone down into concrete parts, to conduct research on each of these parts, and to link these components to create a playable strategic game that yielded useful insights.
  • The scoped and structured approach to this game allowed for enough structure to keep discussions on track and provided links between inputs and outputs while still allowing for creativity, flexibility, and transparency.
  • This gray zone game can be adapted to focus on different regions or adversaries, could include additional allies, or could be made into a three-way competition.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2019
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 60
  • Paperback Price: $17.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-1-9774-0401-5
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RR2915
  • Document Number: RR-2915-A

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Wasser, Becca, Jenny Oberholtzer, Stacie L. Pettyjohn, and William Mackenzie, Gaming Gray Zone Tactics: Design Considerations for a Structured Strategic Game, RAND Corporation, RR-2915-A, 2019. As of September 8, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2915.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Wasser, Becca, Jenny Oberholtzer, Stacie L. Pettyjohn, and William Mackenzie, Gaming Gray Zone Tactics: Design Considerations for a Structured Strategic Game. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2019. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2915.html. Also available in print form.
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This research was sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army and conducted by the Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources Program within the RAND Arroyo Center.

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