At this point it looks as though the cooperative feature of the game is irrelevant. The players really need not show up until 11:59; in fact they do not need to show up at all. The preplay communication and ability to reach binding agreements, which were intended to characterize the game, prove to be irrelevant; the cooperative game as a distinct game from the tacit game does not exist.

XREF: Connects to game theory concepts about when communication and commitment actually matter versus when they're superfluous to the equilibrium.

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 624