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Geek Dad
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: ‘Red Dog Junction'
You've got a ship, a crew, and a dream—but so does everyone else. Who will be able to take home the most gold? What Is Red Dog Junction ? Red Dog Junction is a resource management game for to 2 to 5 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 30 to 60 minutes to play. It's currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, with a pledge level of $67 for a copy of the game. The game rules aren't too complex so I think you could go perhaps as young as 10 as long as they can handle some direct conflict in the game. It was originally launched on Kickstarter in October 2024 as Space Freight with placeholder artwork, but the publishers decided to cancel the campaign and try again. This review is based on my original Space Freight write-up, but modified to reflect the changes, which are primarily art-related. Red Dog Junction was designed by Tyler Cheves and Brendon Cheves and published by Waterworks Games and Healthy Pixels, with art by Marie Bergeron. New to Kickstarter? Check out our crowdfunding primer. Red Dog Junction components. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Red Dog Junction Components Note: My review is based on a prototype copy, so it is subject to change and may not reflect final component quality. The plastic spaceships in the prototype were 3D-printed and I assume they will not all be yellow in the finished game. Here's what comes in the box: Red Dog Junction tile Haberdashery tile 4 Planet tiles 5 Home Base tiles 5 Ships 15 Super Deal tiles Metallic Gold D4 die 6 Plastic D6 dice 5 Player Aid cards 81 cards 50 Gold cubes 30 Scrap cubes (black) 30 Ruby cubes (red) 30 Ice cubes (clear) 30 Oxygen cubes (green) 30 Gas cubes (yellow) 30 Whiskey cubes (brown) Space Freight had experimented with a 'no rulebook' system, where the component trays had lids that explained the game as you unpacked it. The publisher realized that most players still preferred just having a rulebook, so Red Dog Junction does not use the same panel system. Unique ships, one loaded with cubes. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu The plastic ships are quite large—each one can hold up to 12 resource cubes on it, and they also serve as your player piece for moving around the table. The cubes themselves are a standard size, mostly plastic, while the 'gold' and 'whiskey' cubes are made of metal and have an impressive heft to them. The dice for the trading exchange are similar: one plastic die for each of the six resources, and then a metallic D4 for the gold. The ships all have unique shapes, which gives them a fun bit of personality—particularly if they end up all being grey plastic. (I'm not sure what the finished ships will be.) The resources tray is nice because you can just set the whole thing on the table as a supply. I noticed that, along with renaming the resources from Space Freight , they've also adjusted the colors some—there's now a brown metallic cube for whiskey, and the yellow cubes are now 'gas' or 'fuel' (but I still think having both yellow and metallic gold as resources can be a little confusing). Also gone are the tiny mineral icons, replaced by different colored cube icons—though it would still be nice to have a legend somewhere, because the 'green' icons looked like grey to me, which is the color of the scrap cubes in the prototype. I've been told the finished version will have more distinct colors so everything is more easily distinguished. Instead of a folding board, the locations are now large tiles that you just place around the table, which feels fitting for a game set in space. The illustrations are by Marie Bergeron, who also illustrated Thunder Road: Vendetta , and it gives everything a lived-in feel. This isn't a polished, shiny sci-fi where everything looks like it was designed by Apple; it's beat-up and rusty and feels a little bit more like the world of Firefly . (I'm not sure why the store location is called the 'Haberdashery' other than maybe they liked the sound of the word—it doesn't appear to be a clothing store.) How to Play Red Dog Junction The Goal The goal of the game is to have the most points by the time the gold supply runs out. 4-player setup. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Setup Set up the various location tiles with the resource tray nearby. Place the scrap cubes on the table in space; the rest of the cubes stay in the tray. Put the D4 in the center of Red Dog Junction set to '1,' and then roll the other six dice and place them randomly in the six spaces around it. Shuffle the two stacks of Super Deals (there are 6-value tiles and 8-value tiles) and place them in the Haberdashery, face-up. Player setup. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Give each player a ship, a player aid card, a Home Base, and a set of starting crew: 3 Cowboys, 1 Miner, 1 Scavenger, and 1 Agent. Players will start with some gold based on turn order. Place your ship on its home base, and your gold in storage on your home base. Shuffle the cards and place the deck off to the side, and reveal six cards to form the market. You start with four crew types, but you may be able to recruit others during the game. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Gameplay On your turn, you may take two actions from the following: Load/Unload : Move any number of resources between your storage and your ship while docked at home. : Move any number of resources between your storage and your ship while docked at home. Move : Move from any dock space into space, or move from space to any open docking space. (Special: you may move from one dock to another at Red Dog Junction for a single move rather than having to move into space first.) Only one ship is allowed at a planet at a time. : Move from any dock space into space, or move from space to any open docking space. (Special: you may move from one dock to another at Red Dog Junction for a single move rather than having to move into space first.) Only one ship is allowed at a planet at a time. Mine : While docked at a planet, gain cubes of that color onto your ship. : While docked at a planet, gain cubes of that color onto your ship. Salvage : While in space, collect cubes from space into your ship. : While in space, collect cubes from space into your ship. Trade : While docked at Red Dog Junction, trade resources. : While docked at Red Dog Junction, trade resources. Purchase Gold : While docked at the Haberdashery, turn in resources to complete a Super Deal and earn gold. : While docked at the Haberdashery, turn in resources to complete a Super Deal and earn gold. Displace : Move ships from docks into space (requires Rustlers crew). : Move ships from docks into space (requires Rustlers crew). Swap : Trade resources with another ship while you're both in space (requires Outlaws crew). : Trade resources with another ship while you're both in space (requires Outlaws crew). Buy: Buy a card from the market row. This ship can salvage cubes from space—currently there's only scrap floating around. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu The strength of many of the actions is affected by how many crew you have. For instance, at the beginning of the game you have one Scavenger, so a salvage action lets you take 1 cube. If you had 3 Scavengers, then you could pick up 3 cubes for 1 action. Cowboys give you capacity for your ship—you start with 3 Cowboys so your ship capacity is 6 cubes; at the end of your turn if you have more than your capacity in your ship, you must choose cubes to jettison into space, where they could be salvaged by any players on future turns. This ship could trade 3 oxygen for 4 whiskey or 1 gold. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu When trading, you may exchange resources matching the two dice next to your ship, as well as gold, and the exchange rate is equal to the values of the dice. For instance, in the photo above, the oxygen die is 3, the whiskey die is 4, and the gold die is 1, so you may make any swaps at a ratio of 3 oxygen : 4 whiskey : 1 gold. Your trader crew cards give you more trades per action; you may also use a trade to increase or decrease one of the D6 next to your ship, manipulating the economy. (Note that there is no whiskey planet, so the only way to get whiskey is through trading.) Docked at Honest Jose's Haberdashery. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu If you dock at the mission center, you may turn in the required resources shown on one of the Super Deal tiles to gain the gold payment, and you also take the tile, which is worth 1 point. Remember: you still have to get the gold back home safely! Jose might be honest, but you can't trust your fellow players. Buy crew, officers, and boosts at the card market. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu You may buy cards from the market no matter where your ship is located, but you may only spend resources that are already in your storage, not from your ship. Crew cards will make your actions more efficient, and Boost cards are single-use cards that usually give you an extra action after you play them, letting you set up a powerful turn if you can time it right. Officer cards are the most expensive, each costing 8 resources, but they give you an ongoing ability for the rest of the gameand are also worth points. The Pathfinder can move directly to any open docking space without stopping in space; the Quartermaster can unload directly to your storage from space without being docked at home. Game End The game ends when all of the gold has been moved to player's storage (so if it's still floating in space or on a player's ship, the game isn't over yet!). Players earn points for all of their crew, officers, and mission tiles, and 1 point per gold in their storage. The highest score wins, with ties going to the player with the most remaining boost cards, and then the most crew cards. Why You Should Play Red Dog Junction One of the gimmicks for the older prototype (while it was still named Space Freight ) was the fact that it didn't have a rulebook, but that idea was scrapped. The other thing that stood out, though, was the big spaceships that held the resource cubes. There's definitely a bit of a toy factor there, but it also makes it really obvious who's carrying what, because although this is a pick-up-and-deliver game, there's also a lot of space piracy happening. Just because you've picked up some goods doesn't guarantee you'll actually get to keep them, unless you can get home and offload them into your base. Mining for ice. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Okay, so how's the gameplay? Your turns are pretty short, particularly at the beginning, because most of your actions are fairly simple. It'll take you two actions just to fly your ship somewhere and dock, and then maybe on your second turn all you do is mine two resources if you made it to a planet. Or, perhaps you started by loading some gold into your ship with the intentions of trading. Your goal is to just accumulate as much gold in your storage as you can, but there are multiple ways to go about that. If you see that the markets have made a particular resource more valuable (if the die is low, you can trade fewer gems per gold), then maybe it's worth making a run to that planet so you can load up and then go trading. Or, maybe there's a good combination where you could take your starting gold and trade it for something that's needed for a Super Deal. Either way, the two primary sources of gold are Red Dog Junction and the Haberdashery, turning goods and scrap (however you managed to acquire them) into gold, and then shuttling that back home. Powering up your actions with crew is also key, and each crew member can be purchased with a specific type of resource or you can spend gold, though that's usually if you're desperate to beat somebody else to the punch. Cowboys increase your ship capacity so you don't have to fly back and forth as often, and Miners and Scavengers let you gain more cubes per action. Agents make your trading stops more efficient, both because you can manipulate the market dice but also because you can make more trades per action. Then we get to the other crew: Outlaws and Rustlers. You don't start with any, but as soon as somebody acquires these, prepare to be boarded. Rustlers let you dislodge players from their docks, putting them into space. That's handy if somebody's mining a planet but you want that spot, or if they're hogging the space you need at Red Dog Junction. But the real one-two punch comes when you have Outlaws, which let you swap resources on your ship with somebody else—why go to the trouble of mining and then trading at Red Dog Junction, when you can just hang about in space, maybe scavenge some scrap metal, and then dump it on those merchants and take their gold? You get so many more actions if you don't have to spend them docking and undocking all the time. The Rascal is a special crew that is very expensive, but every turn you can decide which crew it is, so it gives you a lot of flexibility. Carrying a lot of cargo? It's a Cowboy this time. Time to mine? Let's make it a Miner. Boost cards cost 1 gold but can be quite effective. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Finally, there are boost cards—these all cost 1 gold, which means you're spending a point to acquire them, but they give you really amazing effects once. You might be able to manipulate dice at Red Dog Junction (including the gold die!), increase your ship's capacity temporarily, or get a boosted mine, salvage, or swap action. Whenever a boost card comes up in the market, everyone should take a look at it because even if it's not directly useful for you, it may be worth buying so your opponent can't use it against you. Once the game gets going, things can get pretty heated. Multiple players want to be on the same planet, or are racing for particular resources because an officer card just appeared in the market. If you see somebody collecting resources that match a Super Deal, is it worth trying to outpace them, or do you go for something else instead? When you're done trading, do you use some of your trade abilities to change the die and make the exchange rate worse for everyone else? Super Deals: are they worth the risk? (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Super Deals are worth 1 point just for buying them, but also give you a decent amount of gold. The problem is, if there are Outlaws about, there's no guarantee you'll get that gold home to storage. In our games, it was often a dilemma whether it was more efficient to complete missions or trade resources for gold, and one of the limiting factors was always the amount of time it took to fly back and forth between locations. The different crews between players can also make for some funny outcomes. In one game, one player had a lot of Outlaws so if they accumulated enough of anything, they could swap out and take pretty much my whole stash of gold before I got it home. But I realized I had a lot of Scavengers and they didn't—so if I jettisoned all my gold into space, at most they could get 2 of them in a turn, and I could try to scoop up the rest and flee for home! There can be a bit of a stalemate, though, depending on how determined players are. If you have gold and you're not in space, it will take you at least two turns just to get home, and then you can't unload until your next turn. But that means you're a sitting duck for anyone who has a Rustler and some Outlaws. If they undock you and take some gold, do you try to get it back, or just go back home and unload whatever you have left? We had some long tug-of-wars over gold in one of the games I played and eventually one player just had to give in so the game wouldn't go on too long. There are only 5 unique officers in the deck. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu The officers are a game-changer, and since there are only five of them in the entire deck, there's no guarantee that you'll even see all of them in any given game. We did feel like the Pathfinder, which allows you to teleport anywhere, felt like it was the most valuable of them, because saving an extra action per turn just lets you unload gold before anyone else can get to you, and it feels unstoppable. Some of the others can be pretty handy, but nothing really compares to teleportation. I would have liked to see either some more officers, either multiple copies of the same ones or some additional powers, because it's possible that the player who's first to get an officer can just run away with the game. Overall, Red Dog Junction is a solid pick-up-and-deliver game that can spark some really exciting moments, but can also feel a bit limiting at times because you only get 2 actions and flying through space is time-consuming. It's not too complex once you learn the different actions, though coming up with a winning strategy can still be a challenge. The components have a fun toy factor with the ships carrying the cubes around the board. For more information or to make a pledge, visit the Red Dog Junction Kickstarter page! Click here to see all our tabletop game reviews. To subscribe to GeekDad's tabletop gaming coverage, please copy this link and add it to your RSS reader. Disclosure: GeekDad was loaned a prototype of this game for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
People are just now learning the little-known Monopoly rule that could make the game end twice as fast
People have been left gobsmacked after discovering a lesser-known Monopoly rule that has the power to change the entire game - and make it end twice as fast. The host of the Triple M Breakfast radio show, Australian-born Beau Ryan, revealed the nifty trick during an episode that aired earlier this year. The instigator of hundreds of festive family rows, Monopoly is a popular board-game that's as well-known for its hours'-long play time as it is for sparking squabbles among competitive players. And while partly due to the impatience of its participants, some of the anguish in Monopoly can be blamed on its elusive rules - with many around the world seemingly playing by different guidelines. Speaking during the show, broadcast to Sydney locals, Beau said he'd had a huge 'realisation the other day' during a game with his son - in a clip shared on TikTok. Taking his turn, Beau found his piece landing on Park Lane, one of the more expensive and sought after 'properties' on the board With a higher value and rent afforded to other players who land on the square, it's often snapped up by strategic players, but not Beau on this occasion. He was shocked then, when after announcing he wouldn't be buying it, that his son piped up and said he'd like to purchase it instead. Baffled by the bid to buy the property, Beau said 'Hang on champion, you can't buy that, you didn't land on it.' Responding and correcting his father on the rules of the game, Beau's son said he could buy via 'auction'. Refusing to take the bait, the radio host was initially convinced his son was lying and only allowed him to buy the property when upon looking up the rules, realised he was right all along. 'I said that's not the rules but then I got them - and it is in the rules,' he continued. 'If anyone playing lands on a property in Monopoly, and they don't buy it, the other plays can auction it,' he said, astounded by the discovery. Equally baffled, fellow co-host Cat Lynch said: 'I didn't know that. You've blown my mind.' Having made the discovery, Beau wasn't convinced that the auction rules was something worth incorporating into gameplay. 'It ruins the game mate,' he countered. 'Because if you're not sure an then they say they're buying it, it turns into sort of an alpha situation.' A clip from the breakfast show, that aired in April this year, has since been shared on TikTok, where hundreds of exasperated Monopoly fans dashed to the comment section to express their surprise. 'Hold on a minute. Is this an Australian rule?' one viewer asked in disbelief. A second couldn't believe that it was the first some players were hearing of it, writing, 'how does no one know this, it's designed to make the game 2x quicker.' Another wrote: '99 per cent of people haven't read the rules of monopoly. Monopoly is an AWFUL game but if you play with the actual rules - all the rules - it's bearable and doesn't last hours.' 'Monopoly has been banned in my parents house since 1978 after one bro flipped the table and the other bro (banker) got into a fist fight,' one chimed. And it seems Beau's claims were correct. A clip from the breakfast show, that aired in April this year, has since been shared on TikTok, where hundreds of exasperated Monopoly fans dashed to the comment section to express their surprise According to the official Monopoly rules: 'Whenever a player lands on an unowned property he may buy that property from the Bank at its printed price [...] If he does not wish to buy the property it is sold at auction by the Banker to the highest bidder.' Monopoly fans were treated to a number of genius tactics last year, when money saving expert Martin Lewis shared his clever tricks for winning the game. Sharing the strategies on his ITV show, Martin Lewis: How to Win at Board Games, the money saving expert explained that there are several things you can do to beat other players and improve your odds. His first tip is to buy as many properties as possible during the early stages of the game. Martin said that it was also important to calculate the return on investment on each property, meaning how much you purchased it for versus how much you can earn back from rent. However, not all properties are created equal. Although the most expensive ones start out being the best investment, this changes once houses and hotels are added. Those wanting to win should aim to purchase the three light blue cards which are The Angel, Islington, Euston Road and Pentonville Road, as these can generate the most money once hotels are added to them. After that, he recommends swooping up the orange cards comprising of Vine Street, Marlborough Street, and Bow Street. Martin highlighted that these are the properties that players are most likely to land on after they've just gotten out of jail. The worst set to buy in his opinion are the pricey greens - including Bond Street, Oxford Street, and Regent Street. Therefore, Martin shared, it is vital to buy one of each colour, so you can block opponents and have some leverage when it comes to doing deals later down the line. Martin added that if you have cards that are not part of a set, you should mortgage them to the bank for extra money to buy houses, since they're unlikely to generate much income for you.
CBC
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
A St. Thomas woman is launching a new board game!
Carole Coplea of St. Thomas created a new trick-taking board game called Finesse. Coplea told London Morning about her game and what it was like to create a game from the ground up.
CTV News
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Saskatoon takes part in Catan national qualifiers
WATCH: Saskatchewan's Catan community gathered in Saskatoon on Saturday to find the board game's best player. WATCH: Saskatchewan's Catan community gathered in Saskatoon on Saturday to find the board game's best player. Saskatchewan's Catan community gathered in Saskatoon on Saturday to find the board game's best player. 'It's simple, but it also has a strategy to it. So, it's more strategic than Monopoly, but less complex than chess,' Tyrel Wilgosh, the event organizer and founder of Sask. Catan, explained. Catan, formerly known as The Settlers of Catan, is a strategy board game that originated in Germany in 1995, where players compete to build the strongest settlement. When Wilgosh first began planning the event, he didn't expect a turnout of nearly 50 players. The strong attendance even prompted the tournament to move to a larger venue, Gather Local Market. 'It's very surprising Saskatoon had this big of a community. but they're very who don't know how to play the game are taught very easily,' Wilgosh said. The qualifier will determine who is Saskatchewan's best Catan player. They will then go on to compete on a national level, in the hopes of heading to Germany for the world finals. Saskatoon takes part in Catan national qualifiers Rylee Moody, Skylar Elliot, and Hannah Kearnan often play the game with one another. They said what makes it so appealing to so many. 'My favorite thing about playing Catan is that it's a new game every time you play, so every time you're not playing the same board, it's completely different. So, I find it's a little bit hard to strategize because you're playing a new game every time, but that's what makes it fun,' Elliot said. Moody explained that the simple concept makes it easy to share the game with others. 'It's a very approachable game. Anybody who's new to board games tends to really enjoy Catan, so it's a good one to really get people into good board games,' Moody said. Of course, the drive to win is certainly a motivating factor for many. 'I find it's a little addictive as well. Every time I play with these two, they're always winning, and I just want a chance to win,' Kearnan said. Catan lovers can be found across the globe, and events like this one allow the community to connect with one another. 'Sometimes you just want to mix it up and play with new people. So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to play with some different strategies, different people, and just mix it up a little bit,' Elliot said. Sask. Catan has additional events planned during the summer. The next one, called 'Connect the World,' will be live streamed across approximately 30 countries.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A new board game simulates how a US-China war would be fought
A board game depicts how a kill chain is intrinsic to combat with precision weapons. Players race to detect and attack their opponent in a simulated US-China war in 2040. The game's designer is a Marine veteran who designs war games for a think tank. America and China may go to war someday and no one knows what that war between superpowers will be like. How can armies survive on a battlefield laced with so many lethal weapons like hypersonic missiles and hunter-killer drones? Answering those questions is the genesis of "Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific," a board game that depicts combat between American and Chinese forces around 2040. Based on Fleet Marine Force — a tactical-level training simulation for the US Marine Corps — "Littoral Commander" is now used by the US Naval Academy and various US and foreign military schools. The game is now available to the general public for about $75. "Littoral Commander" is part of a genre known as "serious games," which are educational tools for teaching complex subjects such as healthcare and foreign policy. The idea is that games offer a more immersive experience than manuals and PowerPoint lectures. "Littoral Commander" is intended to illustrate what has emerged as the crux of modern warfare: the "kill chain" in which sensors locate and identify the enemy, developing targeting data that operators use to attack the enemy target before it does the same. Think of it as a more realistic version of the game of "Battleship." Already in the Ukraine war, the F2T2EA (find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess) process has become crucial as Russia and Ukraine race to speed up the sensor-to-shooter connection. "The game at its very deepest core is about the F2T2EA process, whether kinetic capabilities such as missiles and drones, or non-kinetic capabilities such as electronic warfare and cyber," Sebastian Bae, designer of "Littoral Commander," told Business Insider. "Littoral Commander" resembles the paper wargames that date back to the 19th Century kriegspiel used by the German military to train staff officers. Units are rated for firepower, range and speed. Players alternate taking actions such as movement, initiating combat (resolved with a 20-sided die). and resupply. Depending on the scenario, victory conditions include destroying enemy units, seizing ground or preventing the enemy from taking territory. An "Influence Meter" reflects how popular support may affect a campaign — for example, destroying at least three enemy units in a single turn, or if the enemy conducts a missile attack on friendly units in a city (presumably injuring civilians), then the Influence Meters shifts in your favor, resulting in benefits such as additional resources. "Littoral Commander" comes with multiple maps, including the Ryukyu Islands (including Okinawa), the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine island of Luzon and the Luzon Strait, and the Malacca Strait between Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Also included are several scenarios, such as battling for a key island or attempting to stop enemy ships passing through a strait; players can also devise their own battles. The American forces include Marine infantry platoons, backed by amphibious combat vehicles, rocket artillery, air defense and logistics units, as well as US Navy destroyers and submarines. They face Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps mechanized infantry and reconnaissance platoons, supported by light tanks, howitzer and rocket artillery, air defense, and logistics units, as well as destroyers, frigates and submarines. This order of battle reflects the many small-scale fights in a US-China war. Rather than the massed armies or huge fleets that fought at Midway or Okinawa, a new Pacific War would likely be waged by relatively small but heavily armed amphibious units battling to establish missile bases, airfields and listening posts on strategic islands. Indeed, the US Marine Corps has radically revamped itself for this mission by adopting Force Design 2030. The Marines shed their cumbersome tanks and created mobile littoral regiments armed with anti-ship missiles, which can interdict Chinese warships transiting waterways such as the Luzon and Malacca Straits. Games like "Littoral Commander" are meant to spur thought and imagination, rather than create a surefire plan to defeat China. "It is not a depiction of warfare of the future, because I cannot predict the future nor can any game," said Bae, a former Marine sergeant and Iraq War veteran who now designs wargames for the Center for Naval Analyses think tank. "I created 'Littoral Commander' to be an intellectual sandbox for people to explore, engage, and learn about capabilities. How these capabilities work and what challenges and opportunities they may offer." "Littoral Commander" illustrates the panoply of current and future capabilities through 200 "Joint Capability Cards", complete with separate US and Chinese decks. Cards include drones, bombers, cyber operations and signals intelligence, minefields, special forces raids, naval gunfire and other extras that players purchase using a limited number of "command points." The mechanism is somewhat gamey — battalions commanders don't get B-52 strikes on demand — but the practical effect is to allow players to experiment with a wide variety of capabilities. "As a tactical leader, you only get a tiny sliver of them at any given moment," Bae explained. "But I wanted players to think, plan, and assess how and what they needed to execute their plan." Winning at "Littoral Commander" means mastering a few key variables. Perhaps the most important is detecting the enemy: as the Ukraine war has shown, what can be seen can be destroyed. Counters on the "Littoral Commander" map are considered "concealed:" flipped upside down so that the opponent can't see whether they are an infantry platoon, a missile battery — or a dummy piece simulating the fog of war. The dilemma is that concealed units can't be fired at. Yet they lose concealment when they fire, or when their locations are scouted by enemy reconnaissance platforms or ground troops. Thus "Littoral Commander" becomes a contest of hide-and-seek, where the combatants try to pinpoint enemy troops for missile strikes. All while screening their own forces from enemy reconnaissance or, if spotted, changing position in order to vanish. As the Ukraine war has shown, long-range fires dominate the modern battlefield. Missile and artillery units in "Littoral Commander" have enormous firepower and range, but the combatants only have a limited number of guided munitions. The same applies to air and missile defense units, which have a limited supply of interceptors. Players have to carefully decide not just when to fire their long-range weapons — and lose concealment — but also whether to expend munitions or save them for future battles. Picking the right Joint Capability Cards is crucial: for example, the Chinese CH-901 drone swarm cards offers additional long-range strikes, while the US Space Satellite reveals concealed Chinese units. Bae already has published a commercial sequel — "Littoral Commander Baltic States" — with expansions planned for Australia, Japan, Norway and other nations. In addition to teaching military professionals, he hopes these games will educate the general public. "I want people to learn various capabilities of modern warfare and how they interact," said Bae. "Like how having a long-range missile means nothing if you cannot find the enemy, and how sequencing and timing matters in the types of actions you do at the tactical level." "I wanted to make the game accessible to my professional community, which is the Department of Defense," Bae said. "But I also wanted normal people to understand our community better in an engaging way." Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn. Read the original article on Business Insider
