Labyrinth: The Rise of Al-Qaeda, 1993-2001

Labyrinth: The Rise of Al-Qaeda, 1993 - 2001 is the third expansion for Volko Ruhnke’s acclaimed Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 - ?, a 1-2 player card-driven boardgame depicting the geopolitical struggle in the Middle East between revolutionary Islamists (mostly Salafist) on the one hand (represented by the “Jihadist” player), and the US-led West plus their supported regimes on the other (represented by the “Coalition” player).

This is the prequel to the original game, but it builds on the more sophisticated mechanics provided by its first sequel, Labyrinth: The Awakening. Rise of Al-Qaeda requires ownership of Labyrinth to play, but it is a full expansion in its own right – you don’t need a copy of Awakening. It can be played with the base game alone to provide a satisfying experience, but it's also possible to use it as part of a “campaign” spanning all of the expansions.

Rise of Al-Qaeda takes the series back in time to cover the period following the World Trade Center bombing, mere weeks into Bill Clinton’s first term, and invites players to compare the dynamics of this earlier period. Despite some obvious differences in how the US fought against Islamist terrorism in the 1990s, the Labyrinth series mechanics are a perfect fit for the era given their strategic, geopolitical, scope.

—description from the designer