If you have ever wanted the fate of a country to be in your hands, there is a game out there for you.

The National Security Decision Making Game (NSDM Game) is a game where people have the chance to play an important part in deciding what to do for their country.

The NSDM Game is a fast paced game, where people are split up into groups to represent different countries and then handle international crises as if they were real leaders.

Each group divided into a country is called a cell. A player in the U.S. cell might be the president, a congressman, the national media, or a regional commander engaging terrorists, while players in the PRC (People’s Republic of China) cell might represent the Communist Party, internal security forces, the Peoples’ Liberation Army, entrepreneurs, or Muslim Uighur separatists in Xinkiang.

The game took place Sept. 25, and had 20 participants. Because of the low amount of participants, there was only one cell created and the country selected for that cell was the PRC.

The team cell had lost Taiwan and had to decide whether or not they wanted to take it back. They decided to try and retrieve Taiwan and it resulted in a war.

The team had to face real life decisions on what they would do when ruling a country in certain situations.

“NSDM teaches some ‘real-life’ practical skills like prioritizing, delegation, communication and prudence in a fun and fast paced way, though sometimes it is artificially stressful,” junior Ben Kafferlin said.

“The game demonstrates how people must compromise on certain principles and goals… or else you achieve nothing. This is the third time I’ve played and I’m very much looking forward to next year.”

The NSDM Game has taken place the last three years at Ashland University.

Last year, India and Pakistan were the cells created, and both countries faced a serious outbreak of disease that killed many people.

The leaders had to decide how to handle the situation when people, who were being quarantined, escaped through fences and spread the infections.

“NSDM has become an institution at Ashland University and I would encourage everyone to come out, anyone who is interested in global affairs should check it out,” said Dr. John Moser, assistant professor of History and Political Science.

Moser is the professor in charge of putting NSDM on each year.

Moser participated in the first year of NSDM, which had the greatest turnout of students, due to the help of Mark McDonagh, who founded the game in 1990.

Moser now goes to all of the games and presents the cell teams with the issues they must face. Moser’s personal goal is to see fifty participants in NSDM next year.