Designer Interview: Tiny Cold War

Sebastiano Zamperetti is the designer of soloist wargame Tiny Cold War. We asked him some questions on game design and stuff. Let´ s check out what this gentleman has to say!

Hi Sebastiano, thank you for accepting my invitation to this talk. I will review your new game Tiny Cold War in a separate article. How would you describe it as the designer?

Thank you for your invitation, it is an honor for me to share my game with you and your readers. I would describe it as a wargame wihout war. We all know how long and complex the Cold War period was. With Tiny Cold War the player can really retrace the most important events from the end of the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall with the simplicity of a game that lasts a maximum of 15-20 minutes, setup included.

Who would you recommend to play it? Was there any target audience on your mind when designing?

It is suitable for those with little time and little space, or for those who want to try their hand at a game set in such a complex period, perhaps during a lunch break or in front of a good cup of tea. I would also recommend it for those with low ink since there is a printer friendly version of it! (Lol)

Given its historical accuracy, my sincere hope is that Tiny Cold War will be used by teachers, helping kids fall in love with history through games like this.

The topic of Cold War in board games is not as popular as WWII or older conflicts. Why did you choose it for your first game?

I'm passionate about 20th century military history in general, especially the Second World War, but as you said there are many titles dealing with this period. The Cold War has always been fascinating for me. I remember films like "The hunting for Red October" based on a novel by Tom Clancy, or "Thirteen Days" with Kevin Costner. With this game I wanted to re-propose the feeling of the tension of those years, where every move could have consequences. I own a copy of the masterpiece game "Twilight Struggle" by Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews, but having little time and space, and above all no friends interested in that period I was able to play it very few times. I needed something simpler, faster and more compact. That's why I started thinking about the game.

How did you come up with the mechanism of the game?

It was not easy to adapt such a complex and suspenseful period to a set of rules that were engaging but at the same time simple.

Initially I tried to understand what were the key points around which that period revolved, and I came up with the three areas of influence (space race, military power and political influence) together with the Defcon level. Later, after several playtests, I also wanted to include another fundamental concept of the cold war, the intelligence, that if managed well, can really make the difference within the game.

The influence result table, used to resolve dice rolls, is inspired by the combat tables of classic hex & counters wargames.

The mindset that I wanted to bring into the game is the concept of responsibility towards one's nation that any leader must have. The aim of the game is to bring your superpower to dominance and win the cold war, but the power must be dosed and managed in the best possible way. Outclassing and humiliating the opponent can have negative consequences for the winner as well. Many times during the game, the player will be faced with choices and often he will find himself giving up in favor of the opponent on the field to avoid increasing tension between the two superpowers.

The game as you can read in the rules is still in the BETA test phase as I'm sure it will be subject to further changes over time.

The website of the game is very professional! Do you make promotion and marketing on your own or have any help?

Thank you for the compliment. It is a project managed and created 100% by myself, website included. It all started as something I made for my personal use and I never thought I'd end up creating a website and an instagram page, but this is part of me, when I'm involved in something I'm passionate about I become maniacally perfectionist. I take this opportunity to thank Diego Fattori who developed the code for the playtests, Marco from "La Volpe Giocosa" and Andrea "Sgananzium" for their valuable advices.

Now a little bit about you. What did get you into board games? And what are your all time favuorites?

I have been playing board games since I was little, perhaps I was lucky enough to live my childhood in the years in which board games for the general public began to take hold thanks to publishing houses such as Milton Bradley (MB). My first love was Heroquest of which I am a proud owner so answering your question for me Heroquest is "the boardgame", for all the memories it evokes but also for bringing the fantasy and role-playing theme on the tables of many kids. Then tastes change over the years. I really like the zombie and post apocalyptic themes so I'm very attached to the whole Zombicide series.

Do you already have any future plans for new games?

Yes, it is currently only in the conceptual phase. I will certainly try to create a more complex game but always with a "What if" approach, with resource management and responsibility of a great nation leader like Tiny Cold War, possibly keeping the Print and Play format. The setting will be the struggle on trying to raise your nation from ashes in a post-Versailles Germany possibly avoinding the outbreak of a world war.

DOWNLOAD: https://www.tinycoldwar.com/

Tiny cold war on BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/385431/tiny-cold-war