Gamertell

Looking at the world’s political instability, it’s easy to think that things are so bad, the only way to cope with it is by laughing. And playing board games.

Released by British game production/development company TerrorBull Games in 2006, War on Terror: the Board Game was conceived during the “War on Terror” in 2003 and is an apt but scathing comparison to the real world. Also, because of the nature of the game, it had been banned from nearly every game convention in the United States.

WOT is a modern-day version of Risk that mixes in elements from Monopoly. Game pieces are colored in a way that actually correspond with the terror alert levels, which are also fairly standard for any game that is similar to Risk. Black pieces, aka the terrorist pieces, are usable by any player to hire and deploy terrorists to incite attacks much like real life.

An “Evil Balaclava” is used to mark the current evil empire, which can be changed via the “Who’s Evil” card or rolling a four on the action die. “Who’s Evil” or a four on the action die incites the spinning of the “Axis of Evil” spinner.

The board resembles a Risk board with a lot more humor, like an drawing of a giant squid attack a naval ship or a drain of the coast of South America. Unlike any version of Risk the continent Antarctica is ready for conquest.

Basic gameplay is similar to Risk: You start off with placement/builds. You get up to four builds per turn. The builds are either upgrading developments (village to town, town to city) or expanding your empire by building in an empty neighboring territory. Depending on how you build up that might increase your options during your turns, like if you want to go to war with another player you have to have a development of equal or greater size than other player’s development (villages only attack villages but cities can attack everything). They also affect your income. Bigger developments can make you more money but more developments give you a bigger chance at making money.

The cards are split into two decks (empire and terrorist) and mainly limited to use during your turn. Cards like “War,“ “Espionage,“ “Terrorist Attack,“ “Nuclear Weapons,“ “City Strike” or “Kyoto Protocol” are played to hurt other players. “Oil Gush” cards have a good chance of helping every player since they double or triple income. There are only two cards that can be played out of turn. “War” cards can be played as an attack or defense while “Nuclear Bunker” cards are played in defense.

Due to the way the game is built up, empire elimination or bankruptcy does not remove you from the game. If you lose all of your money or all of your empire developments you become a terrorist. You can also declare yourself a terrorist at any time. Yes, there is the possibility that the terrorists can win.

Currently American consumers have to order the game from the War on Terror the Board Game homepage. The cost of the game is £29.95 (approx. $58.00 or €44.00).

Site [War on Terror: The Board Game] Site [TerrorBull Games]

(image borrowed from War on Terror the Board Game.)

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