Modern Crisis Wargaming

 “Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.”

— David Bowie

I don’t usually promote Kickstarter campaigns for games, even ones I admire or back. A recent entry, however, demonstrates the value of wargames as tools to explore real-world issues. Usually we look back in time, examining conflicts from history with lots of established (and sometimes debated) research from which to draw information when crafting these simulation models. Professionals in the political/military sphere employ wargames to explore existing, developing, and future situations and possible outcomes. Sebastian Bae — a USMC veteran, wargaming consultant, and adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University — stands as one of the more visible designers at the forefront of this movement. Catastrophe Games is running a Kickstarter to produce Bae’s Crisis in Korea, a set of two “micro games” allowing players to examine the heightening tensions in that region. Both KTO Crisis and Loose Nukes promise to introduce current-issue wargames to a wider audience, from hobby wargamers and students to military and political professionals.

Bae’s made a mark in the security field advocating games as tools to explore current issues through their abstracted forms of play, keeping most low-complexity and relatively short (30-45 minutes; “short” compared to other forms of wargames, both hobby and professional). He’s promoted this format at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), where one can find a handful of print-and-play microgames to investigate first-hand current issues facing naval professionals, notably focusing on Korea and Pacific Ocean operations. Bae’s expertise doesn’t just show in microgames; the Dietz Foundation published his Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific — a comprehensive traditional board wargame — and plans on releasing his Littoral Commander: The Baltic soon; both games explore current military capacities in two regions facing potential future conflicts.

I particularly admire the microgame format since it capitalizes on factors essential for learning from games. A shorter play time allows participants to run the games more often to thoroughly immerse and familiarize themselves with the experience. The “micro” format leans toward concise, low-complexity rules, with elegant nuances designed to integrate elements abstracted from real-world situations. After spending a few games grasping the rules, players can start experimenting with different strategies; the shorter duration allows more time to replay the game for deeper exploration of the issues it presents. Microgames also provide time after games for discussion about choices players made and strategies they pursued, how the situations developed toward a particular outcome, strengths and limitations of the abstracted game format, and issues surrounding the greater conflict simulated on the game table.

I’ve long advocated for games as learning tools, primarily among younger students of middle- and high-school age, but also for interested adults. Although I’ve casually followed developments in more professional-level wargames, I’m looking at them more closely as learning experiences teachers might adapt to enlighten and inspire younger students. I find microgames more accessible to the casual hobby crowd...and more easily modified as learning tools for tweens and teens. For instance, an enterprising teacher could adapt the CNA game Fix, Find and Finish to demonstrate issues in Pacific naval warfare the United States faced in World War II, notably at the battles of Pearl Harbor and Midway.

The Kickstarter page for Crisis in Korea offers a comprehensive overview of the games, including how-to-play videos, pictures of the components, and outlines of the rules. Both games seem to employ systems requiring a fair bit of concentration and comprehension above what I’d expect for “low-complexity” games, but nothing seasoned gamers couldn’t understand...and certainly rules an adult could learn and teach younger players. They maintain tension between the participants as they each try achieving their goals, all with the constant threat of nuclear escalation as an active concern throughout each game (as it also looms in the real world). Catastrophe Games has produced a number of historical games with educational aspects in the few years since it started publishing; the component graphics look functional, clear, and appealing, and it seems the physical game has solid production values (though I’ve obviously not seen any prototype in person). While the boxed game requires a $45 pledge plus shipping (on par with many similar boardgame Kickstarters), the $5 print-and-play option enables folks to access the games without risking too much...especially if this is a new genre (as it is to me) they’d like to explore.

Crisis in Korea seeks to help players learn about the various factors at play in this region, whether they’re wargaming hobbyists, university students, military personnel, or other professionals seeking to investigate these kinds of conflicts. The print-and-play support level makes it ideal for folks like me to dabble in this wargaming genre — current issue games — without too much financial investment. I’m encouraged to see professional-level games exploring emerging crises marketed to the hobby masses...with my own hopes we see more microgames like this involving a younger audience in learning through games.

“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

— John F. Kennedy