David Ghere presents a teaching and learning rationale for simulations where the location is not identified. This creates a deliberately artificial situation where the student can tackle the problems and carry out the decision-making and problem-solving exercise without preconceptions. The author does not recommend leaving the activity at this stage, however, but argues that the debriefing phase is crucial in the students’ learning and in rendering the entire learning sequence an historical exercise. After tackling the exercise (or at a chosen stage during its course) the teacher can reveal the true location - Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Lebanon or whatever. Students can then reflect upon how the removal of certain types of knowledge caused them to make decisions in a particular way. Amongst many other benefits the strategy can be used to help students to identify the features of particular situations and world crises, to analyse how these change over time, and to identify and weigh the significance of similarities and contrasts between different settings. Unlike many simulations the activities are relatively easy to set up, and could add breadth or new starting points for reflection in any workscheme at secondary level.