Welcome to “Nuclear Decisions,” an online role-playing game that places users into the positions of officials and citizens who must make challenging nuclear decisions under real-world conditions, such as time pressures, conflicting information, and uncertainty.

Users’ choices in one part of the game determine the scenarios they confront, the types of information, and the options they have in subsequent parts of the game. By the end of the game, a seemingly small decision, such as whether U.S. officials should re-open diplomatic channels with their Russian counterparts, can have large implications for global security.

The game, which includes educational materials about important nuclear issues and current U.S. policy debates, gives players insights into the factors that people like them confront on a regular basis as they make critical decisions about nuclear weapons.

The game was created by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and online game designer Playmatics, in collaboration with Public Radio International and N-Square. Episodes were written from May 2018 to September 2019.

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