The Red-Black Game (Prisoner’s Dilemma)

The red-black game is also known as the prisoner’s dilemma, referring

to the dynamics of staying quiet vs. ratting out an accomplice.
Here are the rules of the red-black game.
 There are two teams in the game, Team A and Team B.
 The objective of the game is to have the most points at the end.
 There are five rounds to the game, with each lasting two minutes.
 In each round, teams have a simple choice – red or black?

Here’s how the points system works:

 If Team A and Team B choose red, both teams lose 5 points.
 If Team A chooses red and Team B chooses black, Team A gains 10 points, and Team B loses 10
points.
 If Team A chooses black and Team B chooses red, Team B gains 10 points, and team A loses 10
points.
 If Team A and Team B choose black, both teams gain 3 points.

Playing the Game

Unfortunately, I cannot play this game with you, but I encourage you to
try it with your friends. It requires a minimum of seven people – three
on each side and one as a moderator.
The moderator will keep track of time. Each team has two minutes to
make a decision in each round and must elect a representative to
convey it to the moderator. At the end of each round, the moderator
will announce the teams’ decisions to either side and begin a new
round.
Many versions of the red-black game exist, and I'm describing the most
common version. If you'd like a quick taste of how they often play out
in real life, watch this clip of a discontinued British gameshow called
Golden Balls, in which two players are put into a red-black dilemma...

In "theory," you might think decisions in these games are obvious, but
when you put humans in the mix... not so much.

The Typical Outcome of the Red-Black Game

Now I’ll describe my own experience playing a “red-black” version of
the game.
I was in a self-development class of 70 or so students. We split into two
teams of approximately 35 people each. In the first round, myself and
three others took charge of organizing the team. I became the person
communicating with the moderator, and everyone else took a passive
role. Effectively, just four people on this 35-person team were making
critical decisions, and everyone else was standing on the sidelines,
going along with whatever the leaders chose.
 In the first round, both teams chose red, so we each lost 5 points.
 In the second round, both chose red again, so we lost another 5 points each.
 In the third round, we chose red, they chose black. We gained 10 points, they lost 10.
 In the final two rounds, both teams chose red and lost 10 points each.
 The final score for my team was -10.
 The final score for the other team was -30.
 The net score was -40.

Understanding the Rules

When most people play the red-black game, they automatically assume
that the best way to win is to gain the most points for their
team. However, the rules of the red-black game are to gain the
highest number of points in total, not to be the team with the most
points.
Let’s look at a few of the different ways to play the game:
 R-R -5 -5
 R-R -5 -5
 R-R -5 -5
 R-R -5 -5
 R-R -5 -5

Net Score -50

 R-B +10 -10
 R-B +10 -10
 R-B +10 -10
 R-B +10 -10
 R-B +10 -10

Net Score = 0
 B-B +3 +3
 B-B +3 +3
 B-B +3 +3
 B-B +3 +3
 B-B +3 +3

Net Score = +30

As you can see, choosing black every time is the best way to get the
most points in this version of the game. Both teams net a total of 30
points – or 15 on each side. If both teams only choose red, everyone
loses 50 points in total. If one team chooses red and the other chooses
black straight down the line, one team gains 50 points, and the other
loses 50, totaling a net score of zero.