Learning the Rules of the Game

One of the rules that the players agreed to follow was that if the majority of remaining players voted to end the games, then they could go home. This particular scene occurs right before all of the players cast their vote, but it’s helpful in framing interdependent decision making by recognizing there are players, actions, and payoffs in every interdependent decision. The people in the detention hall represent the players. Their actions are whether they should continue playing or quit the game. The payoffs depend on the collective results of the player’s actions.