War on Terror, the board game

Stuck with no ideas for those hard-to-buy-for people on your holiday list? Look no further than the War on Terror Board Game.

It’s got suicide bombers, political kidnaps and intercontinental war. It’s got filthy propaganda, rampant paranoia and secret treaties…

Here’s some rapid play for you, in case you need some convincing:

The goal of War on Terror, the boardgame is to liberate the world, ridding it of fear and terrorism forever…

Everyone starts the game as an Empire, with a couple of free villages and they can settle anywhere in the world…

Empires then spread over the planet grabbing all available land, searching for the best oil and the most strategic borders. Some go for towns and cities, other spend their cash on extra empire cards, building up their political options. Maybe, if they’re lucky, they’ll get an early nuke…

Sooner or later someone takes a pop…

Empires soon strike up alliances and the propaganda war is in full flow…

Nice touch award: the Axis of Evil spinner in the middle of the board. 

The Brits behind the game got some flack from 7/7 survivors for including ‘suicide bomber’ cards when the game launched in September. The designers had this to say:

We accept that some people think this is in poor taste and may see it as puerile. But we would say that launching an illegal war on Iraq is in poor taste.”

Hat tip: Boing Boing