War Games: “Sometimes turning your key is easier than others” – Cameron Leonard

As we have talked about in class, one of the largest influences on video games over the decades has been the US military. From Space Wars to the most recent Modern Warfare games, military influence or involvement has been present in many levels of game design, topic, and culture. One game I found that expresses this in a somewhat satirical view of the Cold War was DEFCON. DEFCON is a game where players (as chosen continents) make alliances, break alliances, and engage in all out nuclear war against other continents where winning is defined by the number of casualties accrued subtracted from the casualties caused to enemy continents. The morbid slogan for DEFCON is “Everybody Dies” and proves to be an entertaining experience, filled with strategic wins, losses, and many a nuclear holocaust.

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