GMT Games, Twilight Struggle the Cold War 1945-1989 Deluxe Edition, Board Game, Ages 14+, 2 Players, 30+ Minutes Playing time

I usually play Twilight Struggle online via playdek where you can play with others within the TS Community, but do have a physical copy. What can i say about it - as a back and forth two player game where you play as either the USA or USSR taking alternate rolls it has a certain chess like feel about it, easy(ish) to understand the rules but could take you a lifetime to properly master the nuances. The mechanics of the game are simply sublime with so many things to try and do at once, keep aware of and understand (especially if you play at the league level like i do) however once you get it, you will get hooked as it is unlike any other game i have ever played or seen, and definately more like a boardgame version of chess - it is also like the game that Risk wishes it was - a much more in depth and interesting version where you are trying to spread influence of your side around the globe in an attempt to control countries and regions so that you can score victory points (first to + 20 more than your opponent wins) however there are other ways to win (or lose) the game from Defcon issues (nuclear war) where if you trigger it you lose the game instantly to final scoring to a certain late war card that you should be aware of at the beginning as an possible ending event along with holding a scoring card (instant loss as well at the end of the turn) Card driven game with cards representing historical events and corresponding auto actions that occur with them and Ops points that can be used in a variety of ways (Placing / spreading your influence into connected countries, Couping a country, going to the space race and attempting to realign your opponents countries) however the strategic element comes from playing an opponents event - the event happens for your opponent anyway (Neutral and Own events do not) or you could choose to play your own event instead. As the game develops more of the map and cards open up in three main stages (Early, Mid and Late war) each shifting focus to other areas of the map - Early is mainly Europe, Asia and Middle east, and then spreads across the board by the mid war driven by the scoring cards that are shuffled into the deck and must be played during your turn or you lose the game. There are multiple mechanics in play, Defcon, Military Ops and Space race going on along with the influence being spread on the board, it may look on the surface as a series of numbers on a map but when you get it yuou understand how nuanced, in depth and detailed it is with almost limitless replayability (will never get old and boring every game can go in so many different directions) just ensure when your learning to play with someone of similar experience levels (or download the game on playdek (Steam / Android) and practice against the AI Overall the very best boardgame i have ever played by an absolute mile almost to the point where i sometimes would consider it a tabletop sport rather than a game as such - just buy it if your into boardgames and enjoy - wont be for everyone but for a lot of people it is the perfect game of balance, strategy, skill, luck and tension (the games mechanics make every action and reaction feel like a life or death decision in the game and really gives the feel of the cold war) A masterpiece of game design - thank you to the designers! Matt

Twilight Struggle is a truly excellent board game. Currently ranked at #1 on boardgamegeek.com (which is a pretty much the best online resource for investigating board games, in case you don't know, certainly as far as raw data is concerned - shutupandsitdown.com by comparison is a very good resource for professional and funny reviews - their Twilight Struggle review, by the way, is really good: http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/blog/post/review-twilight-struggle/) the winner of several awards, Twilight Struggle is fully deserving of these accolades. [Edit: 07/01/2016: Twilight Struggle now positioned #2 on boardgamegeek.com -- overtaken by "Pandemic Legacy: Season 1" -- if that is as it sounds a mix of Risk: Legacy and Pandemic, it should be a corker of a game...] It is a two-player game, and it should take roughly 3 hours to get through *once you've got the hang of it*. The first play-through, I recall, took me about 6 hours. The couple of beers we had probably didn't help too much, and our "discussions" were slightly less than constructive at times, but irrespective, the point is the game doesn't play very much like other games, and it might take a bit of time to get into the swing of things. I've played the game about 7-8 times now, 6 of them with the same opponent, and in the last session we played two games in 5 hours. The theme is the Cold War, one player playing communist Russia, the other, capitalist USA. The conceit of the game is to spread your political influence about the globe, "controlling" countries by assigning the requisite number of influence points (red influence points for commies, blue influence points for the yanks). Certain countries are absolutely critical to winning the game (I'm thinking of Italy, or Iran, here ;) and the build-up of influence, the race to control a given country, can get pretty intense. The game plays over 10 turns, and these 10 turns are divided into 3 phases: Early War, for 3 turns; Mid War, for 4 turns; and Late War, for the final 3 turns. Each phase uses different playing cards which feature different events of the cold war to move the game forward (examples of events, for example, are "The Cuban Missile Crisis" which is a boon for the communists, or "US/Japan Pact" which is good for the US - both of these are Early War events). Playing events will more or less let you do the following: place your influence in some countries, remove your opponent's influence, improve or degrade the defcon level, or affect the space race (*more or less* : it's a touch more complicated than that). There are also scoring cards, which are the main VP generating devices. The idea with the scoring cards, is that when they are played, you analyse the territory which is printed on the card (Asia, Europe, Middle-East, Central America, South America, Africa, or East-Pacific Asia) and whoever controls more countries wins more points. There is obviously a great deal of strategy concerning how to play a scoring card. The last thing you want is for your opponent to deduce you have one in your hand based on too obvious play. Naturally, they have to be on the look-out for your bluffing as well. At the end of the game, the player with the most VP wins. If any player reaches 20 VP before 10 turns are over, they win immediately. If anyone moves the Defcon status to 1 (on a downward scale of 5 to 1) all-out nuclear war occurs, the game ends, and the player who triggered the move is the loser. The Defcon level is adjusted acccording to how aggressively you play (i.e. if you use a card to incite a coup, this will degrade Defcon). The most interesting aspect of the game, I think, is that whichever cards ("events") you have in your hand, whether they are a positive event for yourself or a negative, you will most certainly face a situation where you have to play the negative event (there are not many occasions for getting rid of cards - apart from the space race, but this is rarely done in practice). The whole point of the game comes down, essentially, to how well you can mitigate the effects of the negative event. Having a hand full of positive events for yourself is often (naively) thought to be a good hand. In reality though, it is much better to have your opponents killer cards (the ones that are good for them) and for you to reduce these cards' effectiveness as much as possible. It is this kind of subtle game play which contributes to this game's excellent strategic complexity. One issue with the game is that Russia tends to be stronger than the US. In our last aforementioned match, we played two games, and both times Russia won. The US wins occasionally of course, but there is a bias for Russia to win. This is confirmed online in various forums. Actually, in Twilight Struggle tournaments, they use a bidding systems to determine who plays as Russia. The winner of the bid must pay the US player in Influence points to play as Russia. This means, usually, the US should start the game with 2 or 3 more influence to make an even match. Interestingly, if the US took 4 or 5 more influence, the whole game would be skewed in favour of the US. It is a very tightly balanced game in this sense. One or two points of influence can make a huge difference in both the short and long term. Well, I think I've rambled on enough. This is an inordinately enjoyable game for two players. Do give it a go!

What can I say? This game is tense with a capital TENSE! Don't be put off by the big rule book, this game is surprising easy to learn and pick up. Your first couple of games will be tentative as you won't be aware of all of the various cards in the decks and how they can affect the game. However, as you progress you'll quickly develop some strategy and be able to apply different tactics to each new situation as it arrises. Be aware, this is NOT a quick game. Our games have taken anywhere from 2 - 3.5 hours but if you're a gaming couple or if you have a commited gaming buddy who's willing to commit to a seriously tense evening then there is a level of depth here that is hard to rival. Great game.

This is a tense game, I often wish it were over quickly when things are going badly (the 'suspense' is too much) but this is a good thing... I keep playing as it holds me rapt as the struggle continues. Not a quick game for every weekend but a pleasure to leave for the right time. Some of the cards could be better explained, but check out the boardgamegeek website for FAQs etc. I would have given it 5 stars except my usual two victims (ahem... 'opponents') and I can't seem to keep track of the action rounds and sometimes have trouble working out which round we are on... I only wish that this was easier and natural. I feel sure we can't be alone in this.