Proposal: Watch your Back(Stab!)

Remember those superhero cartoons you used to watch, and that episode they always had, with the bad guy and the good guy cooperating against a greater foe? They bickered, they quarreled, the bad guy tried to kill the hero, the good guy tried to arrest the bad guy, hijinks ensued. In the end they always defeated the big bad and then departed as enemies. I think we ought to replicate that here.

Create a new rule (and Nomic minigame), Precarious Alliance:

To start with, this game lasts 7 rounds. Each round is a day.

Each round, the Hero can make one of two decisions. Either they Cooperate with the other Hero, or they Betray them. These messages can be conveyed through e-mail. A Hero shouldn't have any advanced knowledge of what the other may do, besides guessing. It ruins the game, obviously.

If both Heroes cooperate, they each gain 5 points. If both Heroes betray each other, they both gain no points. If one Hero decides to betray, with the other naively cooperating, the betrayer gains 9 points and the other Hero none.

The winner of the minigame gains 5 power, and the loser loses 5 power. Finally, Heroes who have chosen an allegiance are encouraged to act in accordance with their choice in the game.

The amount of Power gained was just a number I thought reasonably small. People could even bet power on the outcome of their game. Also, the number of the points the winner wins by could effect the amount of Power they get. If that were the case, then a limit on number game rounds would be prudent.

(Edited to more accurately reflect where I got this idea from, the non-zero-sum game, Prisoner's Dilemma)

Thoughts, comments? Commence abuse.

Failed by Damanor Feb 25; -5 to TrumanCapote, +1 to Damanor.