You make the rules

Want to be credited with changing the path of the 'War on Terror'? How could you refuse? Now is your chance to help us develop the 2nd Edition of the game.

The official version won't be released until next year, but we are making the new rules available for FREE during its testing period so that you can tell us what you think. We've changed rules, added rules and introduced new cards so there are now such evils as permanent military bases, extraordinary rendition and terrorist groups with indigenous territory claims...all in the interests of improving game play and keeping it as up to date as possible. We are keeping a few ideas back until the official release so you will just have to wait for those surprises, unless of course we leave our top secret details on a train for anybody to pick up - We've checked with our government and these things do happen quite often apparently.

Because we want Edition 2 to be the best it can all constructive feedback is welcome and for those ideas that make it into the final game you will receive a respectful accreditation. If you fear that having your name associated with our board game would bring a cloud of shame upon you and your family, you'll lose your job and maybe your home, or you simply think that receiving the odd death threat would niggle somewhat then you are welcome to use a false name when submitting ideas. But then the terrorists would win.

You can download a document which will help you to convert your existing set without too much trouble. And you can see what everybody else is thinking about these changes on this board game geek thread. So let the games begin...and we look forward to hearing from you, you crazy bastards.

A quickie with Naomi Klein

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On Tuesday, journalist and best selling author Naomi Klein made a special appearance at Housmans Booksellers in London. We went along to buy a copy of her latest book 'The Shock Doctrine' , and as the sun was out we decided to treat the lady too - so we slipped a copy of our game across the table into her welcoming hands, and she appeared to like it!

We were in a chipper and up beat mood, which was lucky, as Andy was 'surprise interviewed' by a Finnish journalist whilst queuing to see Naomi. Well, if you can't get to the main attraction because the room is too packed then why not talk to a satirical board game inventor whilst you wait? So for all the Finns reading this, the next time you pick up the 'Helsinki Journal' keep an eye out for Andy's off the cuff, clear and concise interview ramblings.

Interview over and it was time to meet Naomi who was all smiles when she was presented with a copy of War on Terror, and was amused at the possibility of being able to play it when 'on the road' - which we gather she is a lot at the moment. Perhaps we should develop that magnetic travel set version after all? An in-flight version could be pretty special. If anybody has any ideas for different formats of our game then drop us a line at the usual address. If you're not familiar with Naomi Klein's work her previous book was the hugely influential No Logo, an International best seller no less. If you fancy a taster of Naomi's new book then have a look at this 6 minute film.Thanks once more to Housmans for organising this event and to Naomi for being so friendly.

11,000 games sold so far ...

We meant to post this after we sold 10,000, but we forgot, so we thought, sod it, eleven is as good as ten, if not better. One better. We'll just wait until we pass the eleven boundary. Why be slaves to the decimal system anyway?

And then we passed 11,000 and still forgot. So here it is, a glorious celebration post to commemorate 11,763 games, or something like that ... Whew! It's been quite a ride.

Naturally, we're really chuffed with how well War on Terror has done. For a first, independent release, this is phenomenal news and we have to thank each and every one of you for buying the game, being so supportive, spreading the word and generally recognising what it is we're trying to do. In fact, some of you seem to understand better than we do. Thank you. Without you, obviously, we couldn't achieve what we have - so the Playboy endorsement and the New Internationalist review, the appearance on the IT Crowd, the Imperial War Museum, the V&A, the ICA, the WoT tournament in L.A. and more ... all these successes are yours too; you helped carry it this far.

Thanks each and every one of you for buying the game, being so supportive, spreading the word and recognising the game for what it is Of course, we've had our fair share of problems too, as followers of this blog will know only too well. We'd like to report that these troubles are behind us, but far from it. We're still prevented from reaching the mass market in any way, the result being that we can never generate the level of sales we need in order to move TerrorBull Games forwards and publish the many games we have in various stages of development.

So the fight continues. It's a long war, as we've pointed out many times and there'll be a press release soon, exploring this aspect in more detail. In the meantime, we've written a press release that celebrates hitting the significant 10,000 figure and reflecting back on a year of War on Terror. Enjoy!

Edition 2 Game Report: Tom, Ben, Jenn and Andy S

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Otherwise known as 'attack of the animals', tonight's game was quite different for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it was perhaps the most well-intentioned, genuinely benevolent game ever played. Ben in particular trailblazed a strategy of 'killing with kindness' after he became unfathomably rich through oil early on in the game.

It seemed to work. Ben's random acts of generosity made everyone else feel profoundly guilty and it was really difficult to be nasty back. The end result is that peace was seriously threatening to break out. Jenn, who normally revels in the lowliest gutters of evildom, was transformed and spent the game exchanging cards, money and even developments with Ben.

Andy S tried to spice things up half way through by nuking Tom (who, at that time was close to winning and having been EVIL four times in a row had about 30 cards in his hand). This failed thanks to Tom's cunning earlier acquisition of a nuclear bunker. Andy S tried exporting democracy, but this only had a short-lived benefit for the people in Western Russia. Tom's dictatorship soon reclaimed the country.

Ben took the game easily in what was undoubtedly the nicest victory ever recorded From there, it was a foregone conclusion - Tom retaliated and wiped Andy S's Empire down to two villages, instead of concentrating on Ben's exponentially growing wealth. Andy S turned terrorist and had to try and keep both Tom and Ben in check, while Jenn nudged close to the final goal with 7 Liberation Points.

Unless someone started acting soon, the game was going to be won pretty quick, with all three remaining Empires looking strong. Andy S tried to pull a truce with Ben, sending him into a deep moral quandry. It backfired (or succeeded, depending on where you stand) when Ben accepted the truce and thus his Empire remained virtually intact.

One round later and Ben had it in the bag. He even had one point more than was required. And in a crass attempt to impress, before he won, he decided to buy off all the terrorists in the world 'just so we'd remember' for next game. Ben took the game easily with Europe, North America and a sprinkling of cities in what was undoubtedly the nicest victory ever recorded. Quizzed about his unusual playing style, Ben claimed 'I just played an economic strategy'. What a smug git.

The military bases weren't used much, but the other rule tweaks once again gave the impression of a faster, more stable game. The big test will be a six-player game lined up for next week, especially as the terrorist player hasn't been given much of a chance to try out the new rules.

1968 - We weren't there, but we should remember

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We had a crackingly good day at Conway Hall, in London on Saturday. The '1968 and all that' conference was a hot pot of revolutionary thinkers, revolutionary doers, revolutionary speakers, revolutionary listeners, peacemakers, pacifists, agitators, activists, children with bagels, books, badges and even a board game besides ours. Outrageous. Everyone appeared to be jolly friendly which was probably due to the excellent real ale, or the excellent bagels.

We entered the main hall to find our good friends Housmans Booksellers were to be our stall neighbours - Their backdrop was a fine collection of artworks from 1968, some of which can be found on the '1968 and all that' site. They were so friendly they gave us a set of posters. The bunker that we hide away in by day has never looked so good, sexy, sixties, revolutionary. Needless to say we got to work and did our best to match these design classics with our own tried and tested stall classics - quality quotes, unexploded bomb signs, camo netting and a rubber vulture, naturally.

We met many good people including Dr Richard Barbrook, who is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages at the University of Westminster and a founding member of Class Wargames. Class Wargames are great advocates of Guy Debord's board game (a life long project no less), 'The Game of War', which was demonstrated on the day.

We have a little something scheduled in with Class Wargames in July which is most likely to be a visit to The Flea Pit for a talk/Q&A/gaming session so watch this space. He happens to be a very nice chap too with a good story about his sister and the Sex Pistols which, we discovered, he will divulge if you ply him with enough red wine.

The range of talks throughout the day was impressive and the crowning glory was the rally that packed the main hall at the close of play. We caught Adrian Mitchell on film reciting an interesting variation of his classic poem 'To whom it may concern'. The Rally was topped off by the activist and journalist Eamonn McCann, who pulled a corking cry for action out of his left tilting hat. Eamonn gave a rousing speech, urging us not to forget '68 and apply learnt lessons now, as well as adapting our approaches as we face new problems, because lets face it, the need for change is greater than ever before.

Eamonn's oratorial skills were so inspiring that we awarded him the much coveted 'Rousing speech' gong - to you and me that's a copy of our game.

In summary, it was a beautiful day, not just for the sunshine but the general air of camaraderie (which started early with a cry of 'Traffic Wardens outside!'). But for all the nostalgia and hope and excellent speeches - and maybe we're just part of a new, cancerous and cynical generation - we wondered how to apply it all in the face of today's wide-ranging and complex, interwoven problems. Is revolution - especially Marxist revolution - really a realistic or relevant goal? While a shift in mindset would certainly be welcome, shouldn't we be working towards sustainability, regardless of the political/economic model used to achieve this? In other words, is a dramatic, traumatic revolution the best vehicle for progression? Then again, maybe we won't even have the luxury of choice since it looks like (climate) change will be thrust upon us regardless. How we adapt and respond to that change will be the true test of our generation.