“He who controls the past, controls the future” – Orwell, 1984

What if Samsung, Louis Vuitton, and Toyota were under communist rule, thanks to The Philippines? What if Beijing helped Washington avoid the Vietnam War? What if the Cuban Missile Crisis wasn’t averted, because President Kennedy was on the moon?

In Twilight Struggle, anyone who’s ever asked these Cold War questions can find out how they change history…unless their opponent does something about it. In Twilight Struggle, players command the era’s superpowers, either The United States of America (U.S.A.), or The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.).

The goal is global control.

American president and Soviet premier project power via alternating play of Event cards. Each of these cards uniquely represents the defining moments in the Cold War: From the creation of the CIA, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Olympic Games. Each has an effect favorable to one or both sides. These can be anything from vexing (capturing a Nazi scientist is worth one victory point), to catastrophic (a nuclear blast expelling an opponent from a region). Each card also has an operations value – a number from 1 to 4. These values are used to establish presence, dominate, or control whole countries.

Countries become battlegrounds bitterly fought for. Given enough allies, entire continents declare for eagle or bear. Special scoring cards determine when regions turn Communist, or Capitalist. A superpower suddenly pouring resources into a region might be indicative of a held scoring card, prompting the other superpower to follow suit…only to find out at the end of the round, neither had it. The addition of this mechanic ratchet’s up the tension, and gives flavor to the game’s title – fighting with an opponent with limited information, and taking chances on attacking, knowing that doing so, leaves oneself stretched and vulnerable.

The brilliance of Twilight Struggle is that winning involves making the opposition lose, as much as making sure one don’t.

Event cards can be for their influence value, or the unique effect. However, if the card is for an opponent’s event, the current superpower can only use it for its influence…with the event auto-triggering. The saving grace is that the active player decides whether the event or their action goes first. For example, the Soviet player has the UK-US Special Relations card. This event gives America far-ranging powers in Europe…if the UK is democratic. A canny Russian can use the card’s number value first, attacking Britain and loosening American influence just enough so when the card’s event triggers…it fizzles. In another scenario, let’s imagine the US player looking at their hand and sees the Kennedy Assassination event. Triggering this card exposes the American player’s hand to the Soviet player for one turn. A counter this is…to wait. Playing it on the last round of the turn means the US player reveals exactly zero cards, limiting damage of the president’s death.

Each of the over 150 cards affect the world differently: timing, board positioning, and intricate card interactions mean that while Twilight Struggle’s mechanics have a moderate learning curve, excelling at the game requires dozens, if not hundreds of play-throughs. The hidden hand card system introduces bluffing and baiting, encouraged further by the 1v1 face-to-face gameplay.

It’s a joy, taunting one’s opponent’s play into South East Asia during their round, knowing one is invading Vietnam in the next. It becomes disastrous when it turns out they were prepared and uses Chinese influence to flood the area with cheap imports – converting it into haven for capitalism.

At its heart, Twilight Struggle is a tense game of crisis-management. The game forces players into situations that truly feel presidential. Knowing whether or not to take back South Africa, push into Mexico, or fund the Pope’s polish ascension, are choices players regularly confront, and rarely get tired off. For anyone who’s thought about changing the past, Twilight Struggle invites you change the world’s.

Recommended for: history buffs, couples, strategy gamers

By Reg Tolentino