The King's Game™ | Strategy, Trust & Risk Training Activity

The King's Game is short and powerful. It is for four teams.

Teams represent the prisoners of an evil king who has forced them to play this game. The rules are simple but the team with the lowest score will lose their heads - so there's a lot to play for!
Each team has a set of coloured counters: 2 red, 2 blue, 1 green and 1 yellow. There are six rounds and in each round a team places ONE of their counters on a Game Board. When all four counters are down, teams score the outcome using a Payoff Chart that lists all possible configurations.

For example, if four red counters are played each team scores 50 points. But if there are three reds and one other colour, the score is -20 for each team that played red and +40 for the outlier.

Everyone can see what has been played and knows what counters are left in each team so there is complete transparency. What is the best strategy each round? Obviously playing a blue when three reds are down gains that team an advantage, but it has removed trust. In future rounds this may damage the round winner this time. Of course, the fourth player has an advantage - they can see what the other teams have played. To counter this a different team starts each round.

The game is played twice. The first time there is no communication. Teams familiarse themselves with the play, the rules and the scoring. In the second run, teams can communicate. What difference does this make? Are agreements made and kept? And if not, what does that mean for future relations?

Have teams learned enough from the first play to outwit the King and escape their doom? Cooperation is key - but difficult to achieve!

This game also comes with a variant called Business First! (supplied digitally) - play is the same but this time players represent competing companies and the counters have meaning (one colour increases prices; another increases marketing spend etc). This variant is optional but together the games show the difference between individual and business behaviour and the psychology behind both.

• information is power
• trust is difficult to sustain
• competition can damage everyone
• fear changes behaviour
• cooperation can be a better alternative

1. Briefly introduce the activity by explaining the mechanics of the game, including walking through the Payoff Chart and scoring outcomes, with the whole group so they understand the different options, then divide the group into four teams. You can use the Trainer's Introductory PowerPoint for this.
2. Issue each team with a Team Brief, Payoff Chart and Score Sheet.
3. Allow teams 15 minutes to become familiar with all the materials and to discuss and practise some scoring. They can also discuss potential strategies.
4. Announce the start of the game - round 1.
5. Team 1 puts down their counter, followed by Team 2 and so on. When all four counters are down the outcome is scored. Check team scores!
6. Teams now have a few minutes to reflect on the previous, and plan for the next round. Continue for six rounds, rotating the team that leads.
7. After round 6 list scores and ask teams to prepare for a second play. This time they can communicate before playing their counters.
8. At the end lead a debrief of the whole session and bring out the learning points.

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

Hard & Digital Copy

• ☑️ Hard copy pack supplied
• ☑️ PDFs & PPT supplied

Digital Copy

☑️ PDFs & PPT supplied
❌ You will need to print the resources and to source: Sets of Counters x4 (each set: 2xRed, 2xBlue, 1xGreen, 1xYellow)

Contents

• Trainer's Notes
• Trainer's Intro PowerPoint
• Game Board
• Team Briefs
• Score Sheet
• Payoff Chart
• Handout: Key Points
• Business First! option (PDFs: Team Brief / Payoff Chart / Score Sheet / Handout: Key Points)
• Sets of Counters x4 (each set: 2xRed, 2xBlue, 1xGreen, 1xYellow)

This activity is for face-to-face classroom use. All digital files are supplied via the Northgate Trainerhub.

This Northgate Training activity comes with a five-year licence for repeat use with up to 24 participants at a time, for use by Trainers based at one licence-holding site.

All Trainers physically based at the same office location can access the Northgate resources during the five-year term, including the digital resources supplied on the Trainerhub via your own site-specific Trainer Dashboard. If you have Trainers based at other locations, and/or remote workers, who would like to access and use the Northgate resources, we can advise further depending on your requirements.

For further information on our licence terms please view the Northgate Licence Agreement.