Description

A card game for 2 players in which one player represents the West, the other Russia. The premise of the game is that since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union as a Superpower, Russia has maintained an active war-footing with the West, using every means possible (covert, hacking, criminal, disinformation, hard force, etc.) to subvert and destabilise the Western powers and the new world order. The long term goal is to remain a major player in an illiberal, multi-polar world.

Players share a common deck. Some cards can be used by both players. Some cards can only be used by one side.

The game starts in the year 2000 with each turn representing 2 years. The game ends in 2020. There are a total of 11 turns which proceed as follows:

1. Players are dealt 7 cards each.

2. A player may reveal a spy card to look at his opponent’s hand.

3. Players can discard up to 4 cards and draw replacements.

4. A player may discard an economic card to draw 2 cards.

5. A player may discard a military card to make his opponent discard a random card

6. A player may discard a political card to draw 3 cards and discard 2 cards.

7. A player may discard a culture card to gain 1 Victory point.

8. Players reveal their hands.

9. The player with the highest force total wins the hand. Every card has a force value but a player can only count cards that match his side or that can be used by both players. A player may only use 1 card of the same type, so for example, he could use one military card toward his total but not two. This is the “One-Type-only Rule”. If a player reveals a crime card, however, he may break the One-Type-Only Rule, once, unless his opponent plays a law card.

10. Discard all cards.

If any player wins 3 hands in a row, they win the game. Otherwise the winner of the first turn gets 1 Victory point (VP), the winner of the second turn gets 2 VP, the winner of the third turn gets 3 VP and so on. The player with the most VP at the end of the game wins.