We analyze the set-theoretic strength of determinacy for levels of the Borel hierarchy of the form $\Sigma _{1 + \alpha + 3}^0 $, for α < ω1. Well-known results of H. Friedman and D.A. Martin have shown this determinacy to require α + 1 iterations of the Power Set Axiom, but we ask what additional ambient set theory is strictly necessary. To this end, we isolate a family of weak reflection principles, Π1-RAPα, whose consistency strength corresponds exactly to the logical strength of ${\rm{\Sigma }}_{1 + \alpha + 3}^0 $ determinacy, for $\alpha < \omega _1^{CK} $. This yields a characterization of the levels of L by or at which winning strategies in these games must be constructed. When α = 0, we have the following concise result: The least θ so that all winning strategies in ${\rm{\Sigma }}_4^0 $ games belong to Lθ+1 is the least so that $L_\theta \models {\rm{``}}{\cal P}\left( \omega \right)$ exists, and all wellfounded trees are ranked”.

Let M be a transitive model of ZFC. We say that a transitive model of ZFC, N, is an outer model of M if M ⊆ N and ORD ∩ M = ORD ∩ N. The outer model theory of M is the collection of all formulas with parameters from M which hold in all outer models of M (which exist in a universe in which M is countable; this is independent of the choice of such a universe). Satisfaction defined with respect to outer models can be seen as a useful strengthening of first-order logic. Starting from an inaccessible cardinal κ, we show that it is consistent to have a transitive model M of ZFC of size κ in which the outer model theory is lightface definable, and moreover M satisfies V = HOD. The proof combines the infinitary logic L∞,ω, Barwise’s results on admissible sets, and a new forcing iteration of length strictly less than κ+ which manipulates the continuum function on certain regular cardinals below κ. In the appendix, we review some unpublished results of Mack Stanley which are directly related to our topic.