Free game theory course, with a certificate

See the whole board.

Gambit is a free online game theory course for people who negotiate, buy and compete for a living. Lessons are led by practitioners, you play every game before you study it, and you earn a certificate when you pass.

Fig. 1 · Cooperative game · 5 coalitions
Why game theory

Every deal is a game, whether you treat it as one or not.

Your best move in a tender, a pricing call or a negotiation depends on what the other side will do, and their best move depends on you. Most professionals learn this the expensive way, one lost margin at a time.

Gambit gives you those reps without the cost. Each course is built by someone who has played the game for real, working alongside academic game theorists, so the theory always comes with the scar tissue.

Chief procurement officers Competition economists M&A negotiators Auction designers Academic game theorists
Sample · Procurement, module 3

Repeated tenders.

You and one rival supplier bid for the same contract every quarter. Hold your price, or undercut?

Eight quarters. Your rival follows a fixed strategy you'll see at the end. Payoffs are margin in £k per quarter.

You0
Rival0
Quarter 1 of 8
Rival holdsRival undercuts
You hold 3, 3 0, 5
You undercut 5, 0 Nash1, 1

In a single tender, undercutting is the dominant move: whatever your rival does, it pays you more. Does that still hold when you meet again next quarter?

Your margin, rival margin
The method

Play the game first. Learn its name after.

Lectures explain equilibria. Gambit puts you inside one, against classmates and strategy bots, then shows you where it was.

1

Play

Each concept opens as a live game: a sealed-bid auction, a supplier standoff, a three-way coalition split. You make real choices with a timer running.

2

Debrief

A practitioner replays the cohort's moves, marks the equilibrium and explains why most of the room missed it.

3

Apply

You map the game onto a live deal from your own work. Faculty review it and send back the move they'd make.

Courses

Nine courses, one way of thinking.

Self-paced, interactive lessons of about two hours each, with a certificate when you pass the final assessment. Start with the free game theory foundations course, then go deeper: a negotiation course on bargaining power, negotiation psychology, a procurement course on tender design or an auction theory course. Each is a one-off £9.89. See all nine courses.

Free · 10 lessons

Think Three Moves Ahead

  • Payoff matrices and Nash equilibrium
  • Game trees and backward induction
  • Repeated games and quiet collusion
Foundations · start here
£9.89 · 9 lessons

Changing the Game

  • Commitment: tie your own hands
  • Credible and empty threats
  • Redesigning a game you're losing
Strategy · every direction
£9.89 · 9 lessons

Bargaining Power

  • Growing the pie before you split it
  • BATNA, walk-away points and the ZOPA
  • Information, deadlines and focal points
Negotiation · never moves straight
£9.89 · 9 lessons

The Psychology of the Deal

  • Anchors, framing and decoys
  • Fairness and the ultimatum game
  • A tactics toolkit you can use on Monday
Negotiation · read the room
£9.89 · 9 lessons

From Facts to Game Plan

  • Facts, Power, Plan, Play, Learn
  • Carrots, sticks and the lever check
  • A full negotiation, from brief to close
Negotiation · the practitioner's method
£9.89 · 10 lessons

Designing a Winning Tender

  • Race, Ruler, Rulebook
  • Decide first, then let suppliers bid
  • Holding the line on award day
Procurement · holds the line
£9.89 · 10 lessons

Apples and Pears: True Price

  • Credits and charges for unequal suppliers
  • Whole-life cost in today's money
  • A change price list that stops cost creep
Procurement · like for like
£9.89 · 10 lessons

Auctions Decoded

  • Four formats, and when each wins
  • Bid shading and truthful bidding
  • The winner's curse, played for real
Auctions · the long diagonal
£9.89 · 10 lessons

When the Textbook Breaks

  • Reserve prices and strong favourites
  • Collusion and signalling in auctions
  • What a tender reveals for later
Auctions · advanced
Foundations free · courses £9.89

Your move.

Start with the free foundations course, then pick the track that matches your next deal.