Kriegspiel

Posted by Derek Yu Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:57:00 GMT

Kriegspiel

Kriegspiel, or “War Game,” is a digital remake of a board game developed by French avant-garde writer, film maker, and activist Guy Debord.

Inspired by the military theory of Carl von Clausewitz and the European campaigns of Napoleon, Debord’s game is a chess-variant played by two opposing players on a game board of 500 squares arranged in rows of 20 by 25 squares.

One of the fundamental strategies behind the game is to maintain various “lines of communication” across the map, while cutting off your opponent’s lines. These lines radiate from arsenals and relay points and allow your troops to move and attack. If a troop is not on a friendly line, it’s immobilized, but if it’s on an enemy line, it blocks the line at that point. The game is won when a player’s arsenals or troops are completely destroyed.

RSG, the developers of the remake, have chosen not to add a single-player component to the game, in order to preserve the “fidelity” of the original idea. Unfortunately, it makes the game, already in a niche, that much more challenging to get into. But for war/strategy buffs, I think it’s worth checking out what looks like an extremely elegant, Chess-like game (and a well-done remake).

(Source: Tim Stone, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

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Comments

  1. GirlFlash said about 6 hours later:

    “the developers of the remake, have chosen not to add a single-player component to the game, in order to preserve the “fidelity” of the original idea.”

    I’ll have to use that excuse next time I cant be bothered to make AI =p

    looks cool though ^_^

  2. bateleur said about 8 hours later:

    This is a pretty misleading game name for English speakers, amongst whom Kriegspiel canonically refers to a chess variant popular with scary geniuses!

  3. Karl said about 8 hours later:

    A situationist game? I’ll have to check that out.

  4. Pete said about 9 hours later:

    Hey, want a wargame that HAS an AI? Go see Brass Hats.

    It also has sweet pixel art (because I made it), and perfect play balance (because my friend coded it).

    www.brasshats.com

  5. Gr.Viper said about 14 hours later:

    Wargames with AI also are WinSPMBT and WinSPWW2. Fully playable in free variants, have map and scenario editors and generators, dozens of nations with qute accurate weapon availability covering nearly everything from 1930s to present day. Nam, Afghan, Iraq, Stalingrad, invasion of Poland included. Pretty hardcore both in terms of interface and gameplay…

  6. gnome said about 17 hours later:

    IS LIVES!

    and so does De Sade.

    Aww

  7. krizzl0r said about 18 hours later:

    thats not even proper german. i cannot tolerate this.

  8. nullerator said about 18 hours later:

    Bah to multiplayer! Bah!

  9. skaldicpoet9 said about 23 hours later:

    I like the sound of it. I think I’ll go give it a spin…

  10. fartron said 1 day later:

    Everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation. -debord

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