At this year's SXSW, the CIA debuted a series of internal training board games, card games, and RPGs that are used to train officers in the art of intelligence gathering and problem-solving. These include Collection, aPandemic-like board game where analysts collaborate to solve international crises, and Collection Deck, a card game where mazes and monsters are replaced by satellite photos and government red tape. There's also one where you try to capture El Chapo, which teaches collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.
According to CIA Senior Collection Analyst David Clopper, who first started developing the program in 2008, the board games are a creative way to quiz officers on their vast pool of knowledge and problem-solving skills. These games are basically one long Google interview quiz—they're tough, detailed, and unforgiving. They also encourage players to work together toward a common goal, a necessary skill in intelligence gathering.
"This game is really about value of collaboration," Clopper told Ars Technica. "We saw [game sessions] where people took the time to talk to one another, talk about your capability, how we can work together, or thought ahead, strategized, 'I go first, you go next.' They tended to win. The tables where someone would go on their own and do what they wanted, or do their own thing, or didn't collaborate until too late, they couldn't catch up."
Don't expect these games in stores anytime soon. They're solely designed for internal use, and were only dusted off so a lucky few could get a peek at them at this year's SXSW. Ars Technica has a cool write-up about playing through some of the games, feel free to head on over and check it out. If you're looking for games that simulate the information-gathering experience you could expect from the CIA's gaming arsenal (albeit much easier), check them out here.
Comment: The introduction to this panel read, "Join a panel of CIA officers as they discuss how the CIA is developing games and using gaming techniques in support of their national security mission."
American heroes on a national security mission? Or thugs working for a sprawling crime organization known for torture, spy and murder tactics that have blackened the soul of America? Choose wisely in the CIA's new 'role playing game' where you're the one getting played.
Or, as Pepe Escobar would say, 'Relax, global citizen; The CIA is benign & benevolent'