my name is mwd

On Saturday I was attending the Salute gaming convention in London, which is an opportunity to see the vast array of games available over the world, from card games, to board games, to full on live action role play – though it has to be said that some of the StormTroopers we spotted seemed to have had more pies than the ones in the original Star Wars films…

In amongst the usual array of table top wargames and boardgames based on just about any sci-fi franchise you care to mention, one game stood out as having a spark of originality, looked enormous fun to play, and seemed to have more than a drop of wit about it: War On Terror: The Boardgame!

Players take part as one of the many modern empires, and their aim is simply to liberate the people of the world, most notably the ones with oil reserves. Clearly there’s some level of trying to be mighty in this, but there’s all the top level tactics you’d expect with such a benevolent aim of securing world peace – such as funding gorilla fighters in those pesky troublesome regions. But beware, these fighters might come back at you, and then you’d perhaps have to call them terrorists…

Clearly the game’s makers are revealing in the bad publicity that their game has received, but it’s hard to see a better game for the modern age – clearly Monopoly is no good in these times of economic strife. And did Monopoly come with a balaclava with the word “evil” written on it in bright red?