Game Type Identification is a framework for identifying what type of strategic interaction you're in before you make a move. In a zero-sum game, one side wins and the other loses. In a positive-sum game, both sides can win. The most dangerous mistake in strategy is playing the wrong type of game — cooperating when you're in a zero-sum contest, or competing when collaboration would make both sides better off.
There are three basic game types. Zero-sum games: one side wins, the other loses. Negotiations, competitions, and conflicts are often zero-sum. Positive-sum games: both sides can win. Trade, partnerships, and voluntary exchanges are positive-sum. The Boss Game: hierarchical power dynamics where one side sets the rules.
Many situations are a mix — or are disguised. A zero-sum game with a positive-sum label is the most dangerous configuration. Someone tells you 'we're all on the same team' while they're playing to win at your expense.
Identifying the game type is the FIRST question of strategy, before any other analysis. Get this wrong and everything that follows — your endgame, your risk assessment, your moves — will be wrong too.
The key question: Is the total value in this situation fixed (zero-sum) or can it grow (positive-sum)? If the pie is fixed, you're in a zero-sum game. If the pie can grow, you might be in a positive-sum game — but verify that the other side sees it that way too.
In A Spy's Guide to Thinking, Braddock describes a meeting with a foreign official who lied to him. The critical question wasn't 'why did he lie?' — it was 'what game are we in?' If the lie meant they were in a zero-sum game — the source was working against him — then every future interaction needed to be treated as adversarial. If they were in a positive-sum game where the lie was just embarrassment or face-saving, then the relationship could continue.
The game type determined the entire response. Same lie, same data — but the game type changed everything about what to do next.