The Game

A crisis you can run on a table

CRISIS is a card-driven matrix game for three sides, facilitated by a dedicated controller. It compresses weeks of a fictional regional crisis into a handful of rounds, and every round ends with consequences you can see on the tracks.

Fictional region map board

How a round works

  1. 1 · Planning

    Each side privately allocates action points and selects strategy cards from its hand.

  2. 2 · Actions

    Strategy, intelligence, and negotiation cards are revealed and resolved. Failed actions still cost resources.

  3. 3 · Adjudication & Events

    The facilitator resolves outcomes, and tension accumulation may trigger events that demand an immediate response.

  4. 4 · Settlement

    Tracks update, resources grow or shrink, and the new situation is published to all sides before the next round.

Three sides, three ways to lose

Blue

A maritime trading hub whose prosperity depends on open routes and predictability.

Red

A continental power whose security doctrine prizes depth and deterrence.

Black

A networked non-state actor whose leverage grows whenever institutions weaken.

Facilitator-supported by design

CRISIS follows the matrix game tradition used in professional education: a human facilitator adjudicates outcomes, so the game stays flexible where rigid rules would break. An optional companion web tool assists the facilitator with bookkeeping and settlement. (Companion tool shown as a concept; no demo at this stage.)

In the box

Rulebook preview

A preview extract of the rulebook will be published at external playtest.