Nuclear War (card game)

Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1965. It is currently (as of 2012) published by Flying Buffalo, and has inspired several expansions. It is a satirical simulation of an end-of-the-world scenario fought mostly with nuclear weapons.

The game is a multiplayer game, with each player having a small cardboard playmat upon which cards are placed and revealed. It is intended to be played by 3 or more players, but can also be played with only 2.

At the start of a game, each player is dealt a number of "population cards," ranging in denomination from 1 million to 25 million people. Players must protect their population, as the total loss of population leads to player elimination. They are then dealt a number of cards, which may be of the following types:

Initially, players take turns playing secrets. Once all players have played all secrets and replaced cards from the deck they can announce 'no secrets' and place two cards face down. Players then take turns during which they will play a third face-down card, and then reveal the oldest face-down card () and resolve it. Secrets and propaganda cards are resolved immediately upon being exposed, while missile launches take more than one turn to properly set up.

The game begins in a Cold War, in which no one is yet at war and propaganda cards have full effect. Once players have a warhead fitted to a delivery system (for example by revealing a missile on one turn, then revealing a warhead on their next turn), they must launch an attack. When someone launches an attack, "war is declared", the Cold War is over, and propaganda cards are now worthless until a player is eliminated, at which time the Cold War resumes.

A successful attack reduces the target player's population; when a player's population reaches zero, they may launch an immediate retaliatory attack (called "final retaliation") but are then defeated. Often, a final retaliation will end another player's game, leading to a final retaliation by that player, and so on. Hence, in some cases, many players can be removed at once (via this mutual assured destruction method). If a player is knocked out with a propaganda card, no retaliation is allowed. Some groups have a house rule that if a player is eliminated by a secret during a Cold War, no final retaliation is allowed.

...
Wikipedia