Wargaming (of which Riskgaming is but one example) has a long and global history, from Europe and Asia into the Americas. Yet, its utility is increasingly being recognized by business, military and political leaders as a more authentic way to understand the behavior of people across all kinds of contexts. Competition, incentives, risk and decision-making flow together in a way that traditional policy memos and consultant-written PPTs can’t compare.

That’s part of the work that Pijus Krūminas is focused on. He’s a professor at Lithuania’s ISM University of Management and Economics and is the head of its Wargaming Lab. His research converges the social sciences into modeling and simulations, tapping into fields like political economy, game theory, management and more to create a new synthesis.

Subbing for host Danny Crichton this week is Ian Curtiss, our independent Riskgaming scenario designer, who recently launched Southwest Silicon as Lux’s latest offering.

Ian and Pijus talk about simulating the polycrisis, how academic research flows into wargaming design, how students are learning through experiences, why political economy is overlooked compared to traditional military wargames, and a variety of recommended games for newcomers to the field.