Gaming Space Operations Course
Overview
Gaming Space Operations is a three-day course focused on how we develop and execute games that involve operations. The course will cover the basics of game design, so that students with no background can understand gaming, but will focus on building games that deal with operations in space. There will be an emphasis on the role that orbital mechanics and space flight considerations play on game design, and students should be prepared to engage with quantitative concepts.
Note that the class will emphasize manual games, with and without digital modeling assistance. This class will be strictly at the UNCLASSIFED/OPEN SOURCE level.
Objectives:
- How to accurately reflect space operations in games focused on other subjects, such as a China warfight.
- The unique requirements for building accurate, but playable, games focused on space systems.
- Building scenarios and games at the intersection of public policy, acquisition, cyber, or strategic defense.
- Representation of space graphically and abstraction of space movement and maneuver operations.
- Building strategic games on the global competition in space.
Prerequisites:
While no prior experience in either gaming or space operations is required for this course, students should have some basic experience with military operations, multi-domain operational concepts, and how conflicts on both the earth and in space might be fought. As in all our courses, the instructors will adapt the class to student’s interests and focus.
The course will be made up of lectures, student exercises, and game encounters where students will play, then redesign, games involving space operations. The course will end with a practical student design problem where students work on one of their own game problems, assisted by the instructors.
Speaker Details
Ms. Elizabeth "Betsy" Joslyn
Elizabeth “Betsy” Joslyn is a senior Joint Military Operations and Wargaming Analyst for the Joint Advanced Warfighting Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. Her game research and design has largely focused on great power competition, distributed logistics, and risk literacy. She received a Master of Science in Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs following her Peace Corps service in Zambia.
In addition, she is the co-chair of Connections Next Generation, Head of Programming for the Women’s Wargaming Network, a wargaming instructor for the Military Operations Research Society, and a Research Associate for the wargaming blog, PAXsims. In the Fall of 2024, she will be leading a course at Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of International Affairs as a senior lecturer on wargaming studies.
Mr. Michael Markowitz
Mr. Michael Markowitz has over forty years of experience in design, development, production and evaluation of war games. He is a published writer and reviewer in military history and a regular contributor to Defense Media Network, StrategyPage.com and other publications. He also designs complex maps, charts and diagrams for CNA publications. He has won awards for his wargame designs, including the 1991 Charles Roberts Award and a 1995 Special Achievement Award by the Game Manufacturers Association.
Prior to joining CNA, Markowitz was a training specialist in the DIVAD Division of Ford Aerospace, an engineering writer at Hughes Aircraft Company, a computing engineer at McDonnell Douglas, and an electronic publication specialist at Systems Integration and Research, Inc.
Markowitz holds an M.A. in Social Ecology from the University of California at Irvine and a B.A. in History from the University of Rochester.
Dr. Ed McGrady
Dr. McGrady writes, speaks, and teaches on the design of professional games. He is an adjunct senior fellow in gaming at CNAS, teaches and manages game design courses for MORS/Virginia Tech, and runs a business devoted to using games and game techniques to bring innovative experiences in new areas. His recent book, Roll to Save: Gaming Disease Response, describes designing games in support of public health professionals.
In the past Dr. McGrady built and directed a team of 10-20 analysts at CNA devoted to the design and execution of professional games. Dr. McGrady wrote, taught, and presented on the topic of games and their use in organizational and individual learning. He designed and ran games for many different clients ranging from the White House to the Department of Agriculture to the automotive industry. Dr. McGrady also built a team at CNA devoted to chemical and biological response operations, including domestic response operations.
Dr. McGrady deployed as an analyst with US Forces in Haiti during operation Uphold Democracy, onboard USS Nimitz for Desert Storm, and with operational E-2C squadrons. Dr. McGrady holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has published extensively in the chemical engineering, physics, and national security fields and is widely cited for his work on the mathematics of aggregation and fragmentation.
Event Topic
Aerospace, Defense, MilitaryRelevant Audiences
All Military, All Federal Government, All Government ContractorsOther Agency
Wargaming
MORS Government Sponsor & MORS Member:
$ 1,620.00
MORS Government Sponsor & MORS Non-member:
$ 1,680.00
U.S. Federal Government & MORS Member:
$ 1,680.00
U.S. Federal Government & MORS Non-member:
$ 1,740.00
All Others MORS Member:
$ 1,740.00
All Others MORS Non-member:
$ 1,800.00