Free game theory courses, 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.

Browse courses Play a sample lesson
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

Six tracks, one way of thinking.

Self-paced, interactive lessons. Free during early access, with a certificate when you pass the final assessment.

9 modules · 7 h

Procurement

  • Repeated tenders and price discipline
  • Reverse auctions and the winner's curse
  • Supplier lock-in and switching costs
Rook · holds the line
10 modules · 8 h

Negotiation

  • Your walk-away as a threat point
  • Anchors and the zone of agreement
  • Commitment and credible threats
Knight · never moves straight
8 modules · 6 h

Strategy

  • Market entry and deterrence
  • First mover or fast follower
  • Signalling capacity you may never use
Queen · every direction
7 modules · 5 h

Auctions & bidding

  • Sealed-bid against open ascending
  • Bid shading and reserve prices
  • Combinatorial and spectrum auctions
Bishop · the long diagonal
7 modules · 5 h

Pricing & competition

  • Price wars between equals
  • Tacit collusion and why regulators care
  • What a price-match promise really signals
Pawn · small moves add up
6 modules · 4 h

Alliances & coalitions

  • Splitting gains with the Shapley value
  • Which coalitions hold together
  • Joint ventures and the hold-up problem
King · protect the partnership
Free during early access

Your move.

Start with one track, or bring your whole commercial team to the table.

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