13 days

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13 days - the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
Game data
author Asger Harding Granerud
Daniel Skjold Pedersen
graphic Jacob Walker
publishing company Jolly Roger Games
Frosted Games u. a.
Publishing year 2015 (English original), 2017 (German)
Art Board game
Teammates 2
Duration 45 minutes
Age from 10 years on

13 Days - The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 is a card-controlled board game by game authors Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen, which originally appeared in English in 2015 under the name 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis by Jolly Roger Games . The game deals with the Cuban Missile Crisis and is an all-two-player game in which the players take on the roles of John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev . Both must win over not only militarily and politically contested areas, but also public opinion, without allowing the situation to escalate. In October 2017 the game was published in German by Frosted Games .

Theme and equipment

13 Days - The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 is a board game that deals with the events of the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Two players, one playing the United States and the other playing the USSR, play against each other. During each of the three rounds it is important to fulfill a self-chosen agenda or to recognize that of the opponent from his actions, and thereby gain prestige points. In order to achieve this, the players use event cards which, as in the case of Balance of Terror, can either be neutral or belong to one of the two superpowers and which can either be played as an event, in which case the event described on the card is simply carried out, or theirs Command points can be used to gain influence in the relevant areas. Too much influence on the map can also increase the Defcon status, which is why there is always a latent risk of indebted nuclear war. Whoever has more prestige points after the end of three rounds wins the game, unless one of the players triggers a nuclear war. The game is delivered in a box with the following content:

  • 1 game board
  • 39 event cards
  • 1 "Personal Letter" card
  • 13 agenda cards
  • 34 USA / USSR influence markers
  • 6 USA / USSR agenda markers
  • 6 USA / USSR DEFCON markers
  • 1 prestige token
  • 1 round marker
  • 1 rulebook

Style of play

The game board, on which nine possible areas of influence are depicted, is placed in the middle of the table. The nine areas are kept in three colors, each of which influences one of the DEFCON status. There is a military one in orange, a political one in green and one for public opinion in purple. Each player places one of his influence markers on two of the nine areas of influence, the Americans in Turkey and Italy, both of which are green, the Soviet in the military area of ​​Cuba and in Berlin, which are both orange. There is also the political Cuba area in green, the orange Atlantic area and three purple areas of influence that represent different areas of public opinion.

The game is played in three rounds. All three DEFCON statuses of both players are placed on the starting positions. At the beginning of each round this increases directly by one on the eight-field long scale. Then both players get three agenda cards, which contain an order in one of the nine areas of influence, such as having more influence than the opponent in an area at the end of the round. You show your opponent which areas are suitable for the agenda cards by placing your three agenda markers in the three areas in question and then you keep one of the cards with the objective of this round. In the following, he tries to fulfill this goal and also to recognize through the actions of the opponent which goal he is pursuing. The USA player also starts with a "personal letter" card, a special card that grants him a one-time bonus. After playing this, the opponent receives this letter. Then everyone receives five event cards, one of which is played alternately. If it is a neutral card or one that contains an event of your own superpower, you can choose whether you want to use the command points to gain or remove influence in a country or to play the event. In that case the event text is simply executed. If it is a card with an event of the opposing superpower, you can only use the command points, the opponent can still play the event. If I increase my influence in an area, the corresponding DEFCON status decreases until it eventually reaches DEFCON 1; if I remove influence points it also sinks again. In this way you always try to be present on the playing field in the areas of influence, but without triggering a nuclear war. After playing four cards, the last card of both players is set aside for a final settlement after round three. Now it is checked who has fulfilled the conditions of the agenda cards and receives prestige points for it. If you could estimate what goal the opponent was pursuing, it is possible to get his points. There are additional advantages to controlling the purple areas of influence. Then a check is made to see whether one of the player's DEFCON markers is in DEFCON 1 area or all three of a player is in DEFCON 2 area, both of which would trigger nuclear war and end the game. Finally the next round begins.

After a total of three rounds, in which each player has played twelve cards, the six cards put aside are compared as the thirteenth move and prestige points are generated again. Whoever has more prestige points than the opponent wins the game.

The number of markers is limited to 17, if you don't have any you have to take some in another part. The number of maximum prestige points is also limited to five.

Reviews and development

The game received great praise after its release because it convincingly brings the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis close. The players are under pressure from the start and have to make decisions, and every decision can be fatal. The short playing time was emphasized, since most similar card-controlled board games ( conflict simulation ) last much longer and, in contrast to 13 days, cannot be played just like that. The success of the English version ensured that it was soon translated into several languages. After the English version in 2015 by Jolly Roger Games , a year later a Spanish version was published by Ludonova . In October 2017, the game was published in German by Frosted Games at the game fair in Essen , and it was also published in Italian, French and Chinese.

Due to the success of the game, the authors Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen published the thematically related but even shorter games 13 Minutes in 2017 : The Cuban Missile Crisis and Iron Curtain , which are also due to appear in German in 2018.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ review at muwins.ch
  2. ↑ Versions of 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis at Boardgamegeek.

Web links