Incremental gameplay permits adversaries to build trust that rapid moves destroy

Evidence

Another dimension of the game that seems susceptible of analysis is the significance of the incrementalism that is involved in the moves and value systems. Take, for example, a game that involves moving pieces over a board or troops over some terrain. If players move in turn, each moving one piece one square at a time, the game proceeds at a slow tempo by small increments; the situation on the board may change character in the course of play, but it does so by a succession of small changes that can be observed, appreciated, and adapted to, with plenty of time for the mistakes of individual players or mutual mistakes that destroy value for both of them to be observed, adapted to, and avoided in subsequent play. If there is communication, there is time for the players to bargain verbally and to avoid moves that involve mutual destruction. But suppose that, instead, the pieces can be moved several at a time in any direction and any distance and that the rules make the outcome of any hostile clash enormously destructive for one or both sides. Now the game is not so incremental; things can happen abruptly. There may be a temptation toward surprise attack. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 382

Categorization

• XREF: The incrementalism/trust argument parallels built-in ‘hostage mechanics’ as credibility structures — mechanism by which Mafia ties build reliability that abrupt action undermines. — connects to: Sudden escalation of stakes can transform iterated trust into one-shot opportunism; Patience can outlast an opponent’s brief advantage — , A Year of World Stories, 3392; Trust forms sequentially by reducing social complexity over discrete steps

Broader Connections

• Sudden escalation of stakes can transform iterated trust into one-shot opportunism #corroborates (0.95)
• Trust forms sequentially by reducing social complexity over discrete steps #expands (0.80)
• Patience can outlast an opponent’s brief advantage #corroborates (0.72) — , A Year of World Stories, 3392