DEFCON 1: Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

Description from the designer:

The time is October 1962. The players, representing Kennedy , Khrushchev, and Castro, must try to survive each of the 5 Rounds of the Cuban Missile Crisis while gaining more prestige than your opponents. The game consists of three phases in each of the five Rounds: Decision Phase, Conflict Phase, and Resolution Phase. The US and Soviet players will use “brinkmanship” as they commit resources during the Decision Phase, in which they try to gain an advantage without resulting in a confrontation (referred to in the rules as a Deadlock or Stalemate). During the Conflict Phase, there is a danger that DEFCON 1 might be reached which means imminent nuclear war in which all sides will lose prestige (victory points). Only if the contestants can work their way successfully through the Conflict phase, without triggering a nuclear war, will they score victory points (prestige) in the Round.

During each Round, each player is required to make one major decision. Then, through the use of tactical cards, the Kennedy and Khrushchev players may make a few further crucial decisions to best implement their chosen strategy for the Round. ANY of these Decisions have the capacity to trigger the disaster of Nuclear War, which results in the loss of prestige or victory points (not to mention human life). Be careful! Who is willing to push the envelope to the brink of disaster in an effort to emerge from the crisis as the world’s dominant power? Decision Phase:

 Each player secretly decides what their “bid” will be by choosing any number of their cubes.
 When the bids are revealed, the player with the most bid cubes, in this pool, is declared the “initial bid winner", which will increase his chances of ultimate victory in the Round, but also increase the chances of nuclear war if his bid is greatly higher than his opponent.  So each side must push the envelope, but must be restrained as well, so as not to trigger global nuclear war.
 If the bids are the same amount, the Round immediately ends    with neither side gaining any prestige. 

Conflict Phase:

 If the players survive the Decision phase they will enter the Conflict phase, where their bids will be resolved to see how much each side earns in prestige (victory points) During this phase Tactic cards can be played in order to better position themselves in determining the outcome of the conflict. It is also during this phase that there is a greater chance of pushing your opponent into a "DEFCON 1" mode which will automatically result in the loss of most of the accumulated victory points from the previous Rounds, and may end the game in full nuclear war, where everyone loses!

The tactics cards represent actual historical events of the period. This micro-game is designed to accurately reflect a brief history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The entire game can be played within 15 to 20 minutes.