Strategy versus action
A strategy is a complete plan saying what a player would do in every situation they could face, while an action is a single move made at one of them.
Often misread asWriting a strategy for a sequential game that covers only the path the player expects to take, leaving the off-path decisions blank.
How to see it
A strategy is a complete set of instructions, not a move
An action is something you do at one moment. A strategy is a full plan saying what you would do at every point where you might have to decide, including points you expect never to reach. In a one-shot simultaneous game the two coincide, which is why the distinction is easy to miss.
The checkIf a node belongs to you, your strategy must name a move there, however unlikely you think it is to arise.
Try itCount the second mover's strategies in a game where the first mover has two options and the second has two replies after each. If you said two, you counted actions. The answer is four.
Games that show it
Leads on to
Easily confused with
Sources
- Osborne, M. & Rubinstein, A. (1994). MIT Press.
- Watson, J. (2013). 3rd edition. W. W. Norton.