Nuclear War (card game)

Nuclear War is a collectible common-deck card game designed by Douglas Malewicki and originally published in 1965. It is a satirical simulation of an end-of-the-world scenario fought mostly with nuclear weapons. Each player starts with population cards worth millions of people and is dealt secrets, propaganda, delivery systems, warheads and specials. Play begins as a Cold War in which propaganda can steal population; once a warhead is fitted to a delivery system the owner must launch, and a successful detonation declares war. A player whose population falls to zero may make a final retaliation strike, so chains of mutual destruction can eliminate everyone at once. Flying Buffalo later republished the game in the late 1970s and issued expansions such as Nuclear Escalation and Nuclear Proliferation, each reflecting the weapons and fears of its era.