“Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are – but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle” – John F. Kennedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllXJ8xDS3g%20
For those eagerly anticipating GMT Games bestselling property wait no further! Twilight Struggle will soon be released for the PC and Mac. The game has been in development purgatory for years until it was picked up by Playdek via a recent Kickstarter campaign. And looking back at Playdek’s impressive track record (Ascension, Agricola, Lords of Waterdeep), it looks like the game is in good hands.
Image courtesy of Shut Up and Sit Down
Twilight Struggle is a 2-player game about the Cold War (1945-1989) between the two superpowers USA and USSR. This game simulates the multitude of conflicts they had on a global scale.
On tabletop-related note, the game itself held its ground as the top game in BoardGameGeek for nearly five years (only to be recently dethroned by Pandemic Legacy last year), and that was no easy feat.
Image courtesy of Shut Up and Sit Down
At its heart Twilight Struggle is a card-driven, area-control game that is played over the course of 10 turns that spans 3 periods – The early war, mid-war and late-war. For each period, a specific deck of cards are used, and they can be played in various ways that often manipulate or trigger events in the game.
As mentioned earlier this game is fundamentally about area-control. The board is a world map divided into 6 regions (Europe, Asia, Middle-East, Africa, Central America and South America). Controlling countries in these regions can help give domination and presence to the player which, in turn, earn you victory points (the goal of the game).
Here are some of the screenshots from the beta version of the game. Keep in mind that this is not the finished product and some game elements might change when the game releases. According to the campaign the game will feature single-player scenarios, pass-and-play multiplayer, and both asynchronous and real-time online play.
The game will be released on April 13, 2016 (April 14 for us here), with the Android and IOS versions coming soon after that. For those who got the beta version on Steam, that will automatically transfer to the retail version. For the backers, you can check the updates on the Kickstarter page to request for your keys.
What do you guys think? Based on the interface alone the game is shaping up to be one solid purchase for me. Fans have been waiting for this for the longest time and I hope this digital version really delivers, especially on the A.I. department. Thanks for reading and keep on gaming!