Meltwater: A Game Of Tactical Starvation

Fit

Teach 2.3

Teaching signal

Replay 3.9

High replayability

Interaction 3.8

Highly interactive

Scaling 4.0

Scales well

Strategy 4.5

Deep strategy

Control 2.3

Luck-sensitive

Table feel

Moderate level of interaction with a good balance between direct and strategic confrontation. Players need to frequently pay attention to others' actions, but cooperation is not a major focus in the game.

Replay value

The game offers a high degree of variability with its gameboard and expansions, allowing for different experiences each time it is played. It also provides deep strategic possibilities and adapts well to different player counts. While it may not be the easiest game to learn, it offers enough depth to keep players engaged and coming back for more.

Luck profile

The final luck score for Meltwater: A Game of Tactical Starvation is 4.67, indicating a moderate influence of luck. Random elements have a notable impact on the game outcome, but players have substantial ability to mitigate randomness through strategic decisions and planning. The game is a balanced mix of luck and strategy, with luck playing a significant role but not being the sole determinant of the game outcome.

Overview

“Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the bastards. At the end of the war, if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win.” ~Gen. Thomas Power, U.S. Strategic Air Command 1957-1964 19XX: The unthinkable happens. The world is scoured clean in nuclear fire. The oceans are poisoned for generations to come. One last patch of habitable land remains: Antarctica. The remnants of humanity huddle together in a fragile patchwork of research stations and refugee ships. But even here, the Cold War survives. And our civilization may not. In Meltwater, two players take command of the shattered remains of the superpowers, struggling for control of the ice. Simple diceless mechanics let players displace, corner, and isolate their opponent’s survivors. Here, hunger is a crueler weapon than gunfire, and the barren tundra can only support so many souls. And every turn, radioactive contamination pushes in from the coastline, shrinking the available space and forcing the belligerents closer and closer together. In the end, there is only either submission or annihilation, and whatever world is left. —description from the publisher

Mechanism

3

Action Points Area Majority / Influence Hexagon Grid

Family

4

Continents: Antarctica History: Cold War Players: Two Player Only Games Theme: Alternate History

Type

1

Wargames

Media