Great Powers Game Debrief

1. Which country were you? How did it feel to build your empire? Which countries had the advantage at the start of the game? Why? How did you empire compare to other empires?

We were Italy, and it was fun to build my own empire. I think the countries which had income of 4 at the start of the game had the advantages because they had wider range of choice of things to buy and could buy more things than the countries with income of 2.

2. In the long run was it more important to buy armies, navies, industries or colonies? Why?

I think it was more important to buy colonies as there were limited amount of colonies and it means I have more power. Also, it's similar to industries; it increases the income, which we could use to buy more armies later on to attack other countries.

3. What did you do well? What would you have done differently?

I think we did well on increasing our income and protecting our country. Although I would have bought more colonies or industries at the beginning and increased the income faster as no countries wanted to attack us.

4. How successful were your alliances? Did they help or hurt you? Could they be trusted?

We were alliances with all countries, therefore, we couldn't really help either sides when there was a war. No country hurt us, but France helped us to increase our income by giving us their colonies before the war that they had lost against four other countries. I think the countries couldn't be trusted as I saw other countries breaking their alliances so easily with other countries.

5. What are three specific things you learned about conflict from this simulation?

First, I learned that even if you are alliances with someone, he/she still can't be trusted as he/she can break the alliance anytime they want to. Second, I learned that many things are needed to build a strong empire that can defend itself if anyone attacks it. Last, I learned that you always have to be prepared to fight against someone if they decalre a war against you as you don't know when they are going to attack you.