Simulation Review

Abstract

STARPOWER (Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, 1150 Silverado, La Jolla, California 92037; 1969) was played by 36 people in a two-hour review session at the University of Michigan, Tuesday, July 28, 1970, and was discussed by the players, the director, and observers for another hour after the end of play. The participants ranged in age from about twelve to about fifty; roughly half of them had had some experience with social simulations. None of them had any previous knowledge of Starpower. The director, who has designed instructional games in logic and mathematics, had neither played nor directed Starpower before. The reviewer, who observed this session, is engaged in instructional gaming. He has had considerable exposure to the literature on simulations, but little firsthand experience with them; he had never played, directed, or observed Starpower before.