Designer's Comments

The first 30 Years War megagame

This game covered the start of the Thirty Years War in Europe, from 1618 onwards. As well as the usual dynastic, political and military struggles there was the added element of religion. By this time the Calvinists had split off from the main stream of Protestantism so there was a three-way struggle with Catholicism. In the first run of the game, players were rather to ready, despite their briefings making clear their hatred of the other religious alignments, too make deals. The solution to this came from a discussion in, appropriately, Prague (where the historical war had started). Players would gain or lose ‘god points’ by doing things that their god would approve / disapprove of. The relative standing were displayed on the ‘god chart’ which ran from a view of heaven down to the fiery depths of hell. Good or bad things happened to you depending on your relative proximity to each location. Great was the struggle to be nearest to heaven!