It's a boardgame. It came out in 2005, came in with some really good grades on boardgamegeek. Been in the number 2 and number 3 spot for a while before it took over the 1st place after kicking "Puerto Rico" out. I've had it in my collection for more then 10 years. But never played it. It's not "that" complicated, but it's still really difficult.
It's a 2 player area control game that simulates the entire cold war era.
Where one player controls the USSR and the other the USA. You can play up to 10 rounds, trying to get control of areas, where you can score points. In those rounds, you persuade governements to join your cause, commit coups, commit to the space race or just slowly spread your influence around the area. Enough influence grants you control of countries, instead of just being "present" there.
At the beginning of each round, everyone gets a bunch of cards. You can use these cards to trigger events, do the coups, spread your influence or persuade countries to loosen ties with the enemy in favor of yourself. What makes it tough, is that every card is unique, there are no duplicats. There are mirrored versions of cards, meaning that the USA and USSR have some cards that have similair effects, but they only work for the designated superpower. Since certain cards are better for one superpower then the other and everyone is playing with the same deck of cards, you can be faced with a tough puzzle on when you play cards that are good for you and when they are good for your opponent. It's all about timing and figuring out when it's best to do stuff.
You either win or "don't loose" (win by default) through:
1. The player that triggers Nucleair War looses 2. The player that holds a scoring card at the end of a round looses 3. You win the game when Europe is scored and you control all of it 4. You win the game the moment you hit 20 points 5. You win the game at the end of 10 rounds, if you have the most points
The cards look incredible btw, they depict and simulate real events. But because there are so many of them, it's hard for new players to understand what "could" happen. It feels random at the beginning, but once you start understanding what cards are in the deck and what you need to watch out for, the game gets better.
It's a combination of strategy and a luck factor (the cards you draw).
... anyway, I had this game in my collection for a long time, but never played it. But since a friend of mine seems to be really hyped lately I finally needed to figure this out. So a simulator on steam, and started playing it. It's a brainteaser, a rough puzzle to crack.
