Using the card game San Juan to teach Strategy Concepts: An Experiential Learning Activity

We used an existing, award-winning cooperative card game to help students in an undergraduate Strategy class learn about role selection and path dependence, important elements of competitive positioning. The card game San Juan focuses on the importance of dynamic competitive conditions, role selection, and path dependence as part of its gameplay. What a player does to win depends in part on what the other people playing do as well. We provide an explanation of the game, with particular emphasis on the importance of role selection and path dependence, along with suggestions for how to debrief it. The exercise provides an opportunity for students to understand implications of choosing to do one thing instead of another, based on what your competitors are (or are not) doing.