Balance of Power (computer game)

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Balance of power
Publisher Mindscape Group
Senior Developer Chris Crawford
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1985
platform Macintosh , Windows , Apple IIc / e / gs , Amiga , Atari ST , MSX2
genre Strategy game
Game mode Multiplayer (maximum 2 people at the same time)
control mouse
medium 1 DD disk
language English
Age rating
USK released from 12

Balance of Power is a computer strategy game written by Chris Crawford and published for Macintosh computers by Mindscape in 1985 . The game is set in the Cold War and tries to simulate a fictional foreign policy of the superpowers USA and USSR.

Game flow

Within eight turns, the player tries to gain more prestige as the head of state of the chosen superpower than the second nation that was taken over by the computer. Both states gain prestige by successfully carrying out actions and influencing other countries. These actions consist of, among other things, economic or military donations, sending military personnel or supporting an uprising.

Both sides can protest against the respective decisions of the opponent at the latest at the end of a turn. If the opponent turns in, the action is not carried out. In the other case the tensions between the two superpowers increase and the prestige value for this intervention is increased. By threatening again, this increase occurs up to the onset of DEFCON 1 , which ends the game immediately and counts as lost.

It is shown on a simplified world map with 62 countries. Various options can be used, for example, to highlight the area of ​​influence of the superpowers or the tendency towards uprisings. The game also contains detailed demographic data on all nations included.

1990 edition

Crawford programmed a successor in 1988. In addition to current data for the year and eighteen new states, the game contains a new level of difficulty in which the non-playable countries independently make political decisions, such as waging wars.

Others

In 1986 Crawford published the book Balance of Power , in which he describes the complex relationships of the game in detail.

criticism

The New York Times Sunday Magazine wrote: “... Balance of Power is about as close as one might get to the cut-and-thrust of international politics without going through confirmation by the Senate.” (For example: “... with Balance of Power is about as close to fighting international politics as it is possible without being a head of state. ")

Ports

  • Windows (1985) - The game came with a Windows runtime environment so that it could also be used on computers without a Windows installation.
  • Apple II c / e / gs (1986)
  • Amiga (1987)
  • Atari ST (1987)
  • MSX2 (1988)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Balance of Power - Making It a Game ( Memento from March 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Compare: Compatibility notice on the packaging .
  3. ↑ Balance of Power in the generation-msx.nl database

Web links