~Rob Fenimore
Dice Drop Games
I spent most of my formative years in the 1980’s, dreading certain annihilation – nuclear style. While it was a scary time, it was my time, and since I didn’t die as a result of mutually assured destruction, I find myself thinking fondly of that part of my upbringing in a weird, nostalgic way. Given that, I think the only reason I haven’t gotten around to playing Twilight Struggle, the critically acclaimed game from GMT Games, is its 3+ hour time frame. It’s hard for me to get games that exceed 2 hours to the table, and most gamers I play with aren’t turned on by the Cold War theme. So, when I came across Twilight Squabble, with a similar title and artwork to Twilight Struggle, but with a 15 minute play time, I was intrigued.
I got my hands on a copy of Twilight Squabble last week and have had a chance to play it a few times since then. The game is published by AEG, the makers of Love Letter, so their micro-game pedigree is strong. It’s a 2 player game played over the course of 5 eras, ranging from 1947-1991. One player is the United States, the other is the U.S.S.R. The goal of the game is to have the balance of power shifted to your nation’s favor by the end of the fifth era. The catch is, if either side shifts the balance of power too far to their side, nuclear war is declared and both players lose. There is also a space race that is going on at the same time. While progressing along this tracker gives you a couple of bonuses that are helpful to your cause, winning the space race only matters at the end if neither side has the balance of power shifted to its favor.
Each era is represented by three cards for each player. Both sides’ cards contain the same strength, but the flavor text and art are specific to that nation. Each card has a value in its upper left corner and its bottom right corner. The values are 1/2, 2/1, and 3/3. Players draw their three cards. Then each secretly places one face down next to the balance of power tracker and one next to the space race tracker, retaining one card in their hands. All things being equal, the players compare the cards they played. The player who has the higher number in the top left corner “wins,” and their token moves a number of spaces equal to the difference between the two cards. So, if the U.S. player plays a card to the balance of power with a value of 3 and the Soviet player plays a card with a value of 1, the U.S. balance of power token will move two spaces toward the U.S. side.
Before the cards are revealed, players may have the opportunity to deploy an Agent or Double Agent. There is one each of these cards for each player. A successfully deployed Agent (meaning no Double Agent was played by the opponent) allows a player to reveal the opponent’s space race card. This is important, because it narrows down the identity of the face down card that was played to the balance of power tracker. Once agents are resolved, then players have the opportunity to boost the strength of the two cards they played to the table using “socio-economic” tokens (maximum of three per player). Each token increases the top left number of a card by one. Finally, once cards are revealed, it is possible to “counter” the other player’s card using the remaining card in your hand. The only way this is possible is if the in-hand card’s bottom right number matches the upper left number of the opponent’s card that was played to the balance of power tracker. A countered card is discarded along with any of its socio-economic tokens, leaving only one player’s card strength to be resolved. Therefore, a successful counter measure could sway the balance of power greatly, possibly to nuclear war and mutual destruction. Once the balance of power tracker is resolved, then the space race cards are compared the same way, and the player with the higher strength moves her token to the next level on the space tracker, gaining whatever benefit it provides. The era is then completed and the next era begins (assuming nobody started World War III).
I have to say, for a 15 minute game there is more going on than meets the eye. And I always like when a game accomplishes that. Two of the three games I played came down to the last card in the last era. One game ended with one side shifting the balance of power too far, causing a nuclear war, and the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). The game plays quickly, yet actually manages to capture the essence of the Cold War. As micro games go, this one feels a bit different, in a good way. The agents, double agents, socio-economic tokens, and the counter actions add enough strategy to keep it interesting. The game also comes with event cards that effect both players that can be used to add a bit of randomness, if you wish. In the end, if you’re a Cold War kid or just a schmo looking to spice up your micro game collection, I would not hesitate to grab Twilight Squabble.
Mr. Gorbachev, GET this game!
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