Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have a collection of hundreds of games ranging from super classics such as Acquire, Conquest, Chivalry (yes, these might be more obscure titles to the general public but I find games such as Monopoly, Risk, Sorry and their like to be so far inferior to these other titles that they aren't even in my collection). More modern examples of the 'Euro' game such as Caylus, Die Macher, Cosmic Encounter... Abstracts from the old and new school (if you're an 'abstract game fan' check out the GIPF Project of games. My highest recommendation). I list these as a sort of qualification; as stated, I have and have played hundreds of different kinds of games.
Twilight Struggle is the culmination and distillation of many of the game mechanics that have been developed over the last 100 years of game design: area control, Card Driven action point allocation, dice modifiers... there are quite a few mechanics that integrate so seemlessly in this particular game whereas in other games these same mechanics tend to fall far short. The reason why these mechanics do so well in this particular game is totally because of the subject matter. The Cold War is the perfect setting for a game in which influence (area control) and card driven play (which depict real-world events) are the major mechanics. There is subtle intrigue and that 'making do' with a rotten situation that was so prevalent during the Cold War. The theme absolutely drips from this game, the tension and struggle is manifest in the gameplay. And this is an important point. Themes tend to be an addendum to game mechanics, pasted on or 'almost' fitting to whatever the original design was, which is why many games can easily be re-themed to suit a wider potential customer base. However, in TS, the theme is so well intrigrated that it transcends the general game experience into something that could easily be used as a tool for education on so many levels.
This game is, unforunately, not for everyone. It does require a good 3 games to know what the vast majority of the cards are (events) and needs a further number of the plays to get proficient at both the phases of the game and how each phase interacts with each other. This game requires longer term strategy, shorter term tactical know-how as well as card-hand management amongst its host of other player requirements. It is not really difficult to learn (I'd also heartily recommend 'Hammer of the Scots' by Columbus Games but the component quality falls short of Twilight Struggle, especially since TS was just released as a Deluxe Edition) and is the suggested choice for those that want to delve into the more complex Card Driven Games (CDG's) available (Paths of Glory, Sword of Rome, Here I Stand...).
Highly, highly recommended from a consummate gamer.
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In 1945, unlikely allies toppled Hitler's war machine, while humanity's most devastating weapons forced the Japanese Empire to its knees in a storm of fire. Where once there stood many great powers, there then stood only two. The world had scant months to sigh its collective relief before a new conflict threatened. Unlike the titanic struggles of the preceding decades, this conflict would be waged not primarily by soldiers and tanks, but by spies and politicians, scientists and intellectuals, artists and traitors. Twilight Struggle is a two-player game simulating the forty-fiveyear dance of intrigue, prestige, and occasional flares of warfare between the Soviet Union and the United States. The entire world is the stage on which these two titans fight to make the world safe for their own ideologies and ways of life. The game begins amidst the ruins of Europe as the two new "superpowers" scramble over the wreckage of the Second World War, and ends in 1989, when only the United States remained standing.Twilight Struggle inherits its fundamental systems from the carddriven classics We the People and Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage. It is a quick-playing, low-complexity game in that tradition. The game map is a world map of the period, whereon players move units and exert influence in attempts to gain allies and control for their superpower. As with GMT's other card-driven games, decision-making is a challenge; how to best use one's cards and units given consistently limited resources?Twilight Struggle's Event cards add detail and flavor to the game. They cover a vast array of historical happenings, from the Arab- Israeli conflicts of 1948 and 1967, to Vietnam and the U.S. peace movement, to the Cuban Missile Crisis and other such incidents that brought the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation. Subsystems capture the prestige-laden Space Race as well as nuclear tensions, with the possibility of game-ending nuclear war.
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