The cognitive domain in physical education is an important component of quality physical education as demonstrated through Standard 2 of the National Standards for Physical Education which state that the physically educated person "demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to learning and performance of physical activities" (NASPE, 2004). In other words, students need to understand and make appropriate tactical decisions, based upon pertinent information, if they are to competently play games such as volleyball. "What to do and when" is an integral component of becoming a competent games player. But how can physical educators with large numbers of students and limited time, space, and equipment teach complex understanding of game play tactics? One quick and easy way to develop and assess more complex levels of cognition is through the use of well-designed written scenarios that represent the complex nature of games. Designing game play scenarios is a skill that all physical educators can develop and use to: (a) determine students' current knowledge of game play; (b) design learning experiences to facilitate students' development of more complex knowledge and understanding of game play; and (c) assess students' progress toward more in-depth knowledge and understanding of game play. Using volleyball as an example, this article provides some suggestions about how to develop and implement effective scenarios and use information from the scenarios to assess students' development of more complex knowledge and understanding of volleyball. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)