Why three sides?

2026-09-14

Most conflict games are built as duels: two players, two plans, one winner. A regional crisis does not work that way. There is always a third set of hands on the scale.

Designing CRISIS around three asymmetric sides changes the math of every mechanic. Alliances of convenience become possible and immediately fragile. Information becomes a commodity: what one side knows, another can buy, and a third can deny.

The hardest part has been calibration. In a duel, balance is a mirror. With three sides, balance is a triangle under load — strengthening one corner quietly changes the relationship between the other two. Our answer has been to make the system state visible to everyone at the table, every round, so the triangle is at least an honest one.

More on the tension track next time.