Dictionary

war game en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A simulation (by whatever means, physical or digital), for training and strategy purposes, of a military operation involving two or more opposing forces using rules, data, and procedures designed to depict an actual or assumed real-life situation.
   • Well, the WOPR [War Operations Planning Response] spends all it's time thinking about World War III. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, it plays an endless series of war games using all available information on the state of the world. The WOPR has already fought World War III as a game time and time again. 1983, Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes, WarGames, spoken by Paul Richter:
   • Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, said last November that in the Pentagon’s war games against China, “we lose every time.” […] War games can be wrong; analysts sometimes overstate adversaries’ abilities. Yet this larger point should not be ignored. 2025 December 8, “Overmatched: Why the U.S. Military Must Reinvent Itself”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • In a sort of blooper reel, I will go over some of the things that occurred in a few of the wargames but we left out when collating the overall timeline. 2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 29:29 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2022:
   • On the other hand, war games in the Weimar era did not first develop into a political instrument when they began to incorporate political entities. Rather, only war games were able to approximate exactly the situation that was to be avoided at all costs. 2012, Philipp Von Hilgers, War Games: A History of War on Paper, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 65:
2. A game, for entertainment or edutainment purposes, that simulates or represents a military operation.

Forms

Synonyms

training exercise · military exercise

Translations (36)

de Gefechtsübung (military simulation) · ru вое́нные уче́ния (military simulation) · nb militærøvelse (military simulation) · de Kriegsspiel (military simulation) · pl ćwiczenia wojskowe (military simulation) · de Planspiel (military simulation) · nn militærøving (military simulation) · fr jeu de guerre (military simulation) · da krigsspil (military simulation) · ja 軍事演習 (military simulation) · cmn 戰爭遊戲 /战争游戏 (game) · de Gefechtssimulation (military simulation) · ar لُعْبَة حَرْب (military simulation) · de Planübung (military simulation) · es juego de guerra (military simulation) · cmn 軍事演習 /军事演习 (military simulation) · fi karttaharjoitus (military simulation) · fi sotapeli (military simulation) · pl gra wojenna (game) · fi sotaharjoitus (military simulation) · fi sotapeli (game) · nb militærøving (military simulation) · hu hadijáték (game) · sv krigsspel (game) · fi taisteluharjoitus (military simulation) · de Manöver (military simulation) · de Militärübung (military simulation) · de Militärmanöver (military simulation) · sv militärövning (military simulation) · hu hadgyakorlat (military simulation) · es simulacro de guerra (military simulation) · da militærøvelse (military simulation) · ru вое́нные и́гры (military simulation) · de Kriegsspiel (game) · ru войсковы́е манёвры (military simulation) · ja ウォーゲーム (military simulation)

war game en · VERB

Meanings

1. To run a military simulation of this kind.
   • Together Britain, the United States and Ukraine conducted an assessment of the new plan, trying to war game it once more. 2022 September 13, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper, “The Critical Moment Behind Ukraine’s Rapid Advance”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Forms