World Order is the game that will help people understand how and why decision makers operate on world stage by preferring realpolitik over idealpolitik. In the game, like in real-world politics, players are called to balance resource management, trade, military strategy and diplomacy with geographic realities (and rivalries) and they can (hope to) win only if they design a down-to-earth hegemonic plan. The perfect and realistic hegemonic plan is the one that allows you to maximize your victory points (VP).

Players can choose to be the European Union, the United States of America, Russian Federation or People’s Republic of China. Each of these superpowers has been designed to be as real-world adherent as possible, with their strengths and weaknesses as well as their unique abilities accurately depicted. The only way to victory, that is, to global hegemony, is to take advantage of your uniqueness and to hit the others’ Achilles heels.

The gameplay is composed of three phases: preparation, action, aftermath. 

The preparation phase sees players do as follows: they begin by drawing six cards from their deck, they later display the country cards in each region they got to determine their initial influence, they then assess their production markers to generate their primary resources and, in the end, they select a strategy for the round. They must check resource production and select a focus every round.

The action phase sees players waging wars, training foreign armies, selling or buying goods, establishing alliances, playing ability cards. Every action must be carefully studied – it’s not a mere game, it’s a real world-inspired gaming platform where every action has a realistic consequence and can help you advance or harm your objectives. You can perform a maximum of four actions, playing one card per action. Actions can belong to four categories, which are as follows:

• Diplomacy: Diplomatic actions see players try to improve relations with other players or countries of interest by means of political treaties or trade agreements.
• Economy: Economic actions see players invest in infrastructures of their allied countries or trade resources with other players and allied countries.
• Military: Military actions involve dual-purpose tank production – tank can be sold or sent to allied countries –, training of foreign armies, unconventional operations – such as cyber-attacks.
• Domestic affairs: Domestic-focused actions are necessary to enhance one’s resource production as well as internal prosperity and stability. If players lack enough public support, their rivals may resort to unconventional means to sow discord and destabilize. As we told you: it’s much more than a game.

The action phase continues until all players have completed their four actions, after which the game moves to the research step. This step obliges players to assess the impact of their actions and to check military threats from the other superpowers. Players can assess the impact of their actions, that is, of their strategy, by looking at the return on investments made during the round and by using consumable goods to enhance their prosperity, so as to earn additional VPs. The threat monitoring is done by evaluating one’s military presence in its areas of interest: if opposing armies are present, you may lose VPs based on their strength compared to yours.

The game goes on until the sixth round, which is the final one. Here, players tally their victory points based on four elements: a) the prosperity levels that have been achieved, b) the diplomatic network that has been cultivated, c) the military campaigns that have been successfully carried out, and d) the economic growth and productive force that have been built. The winner is the player that has collected the highest number of VPs, the one who has shown that can be a master strategy and international relations complexities.

With just one day left until the big launch, now is your chance to hit the Notify Me button for World Order on Kickstarter and become part of this immersive, world-building experience! Dive into the complex world of international politics, make strategic decisions, and see if you can achieve global hegemony. Get ready for the ultimate strategy game experience!