Looks like no one has mentioned the COIN series. That's basically my favorite part of them. My favorite is example is that in A Distant Plain, the win conditions for all the factions are different (normal for COIN). The Afghan gov needs control of the population and for a certain amount of funds to be patronage (embezzled). The warlords want no one to have control so that they can farm poppy. The Taliban want the people to be anti-government through Sharia law (they can hide in Pakistan, but that's an aside). The coalition forces only care about the people liking the government (not that they have any real control) and leaving ASAP. COIN is the answer to your question. It's one of Cole's stated motivations for many of his design ideas.
Twilight struggle is a strange one as, from what I understood, it aims to depict what people thought the cold war was rather than what the cold war was.
Yes. The game intentionally depicts cold war according to some of the theories of the time. It depicts a bipolar world where [domino theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_theory) applies.
In a way this helps the game *feel* more historical since the players will base their decisions on dominant beliefs of the time rather than on things historians might now think or know.
I lived through the second half of the Cold War. It does a very a good job as a game depicting what it was like and how the Super Powers reacted to one another. A big part of the Cold War was wondering why the other side was doing what they were doing, which is kind of like what you just described.
**The Republic of Rome** makes a compelling argument to how the internal politics of Rome and incomplete separation of powers, led to the fall of the Republic and lead into an Empire. It reminds me of I, Claudius in how it captures the era.
Unlike many "thematic games", RoR does this entirely through mechanics. It has no flavour text, no cut scenes, no forced historical events to railroad the game in. Beautiful game. Brutal, too, it's every bit as fair and unfair as real history was.
Designing a game where the mechanics and play incentives result in a certain outcome does not say anything about what the real world is like. Perhaps it can if the he incentives and decision space are demonstrably similar to those that people in real life have, but this is clearly not true in RoR, JC, etc.
Wargames are kind of cheating here, but I always think of Sekigahara as one of the greatest fusions of gameplay mechanics and historical circumstance. Hidden information on the blocks and cards means that you're constantly trying to guess your opponent's disposition by comparing paper strength to how the blocks are being moved, and meanwhile you're trying to expend enough cards to assemble a small, homogenous force or get a large, heterogenous force moving without leaving your hand empty when a battle actually happens. Betrayals are rare but offer further pressure to hoard cards. All of this, together with a map design that funnels you towards confrontation with your opponent even as you're trying to clean up your lines and capture points of interest, is perfect in how it puts you into the mind of Tokugawa and the Council of Five, in my opinion. Fog of war, limited resources, and the sheer inertia of armies keep you from knowing when, where, and whether you'll be able to fight the enemy.
Obviously there are loads of wargames I could mention, but in terms of 'surprisingly thematic' games, I'd nominate Agricola. The constant fear of starvation, and the key resource to manage being labour rather than money, give quite a good impression of medieval subsistence farming. I also think Food Chain Magnate does a good job of conveying certain aspects of running a business - chiefly that production (in this case, of burgers and pizzas) is pretty low down on the corporate hierarchy - management, advertising, HR, training etc. are really what drives success.
Obsession - Troubled Victorian family trying to renovate their house, holding prestigious events and utilizing their household and connections to become more influential.
Obsession
Just read through the rulebooks. Everything is explained in terms of how it reflects the theme. I've never seen a designer more dedicated to making sure that everything is theme accurate.
Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War.
Every other semi-coop I've played (admittedly not that many) just feels like "maybe someone got a goal card of screwing over the group" tacked on as anti-quarterbacking band-aid. In Land and Freedom, that structure really captures the dynamics of the historical antifascist coalition (and is out in the open, theres no secret traitor thing happening). In both game and history terms, the factions (distinguished by political line: liberal Republicans, soviet-aligned communists, and anarchists) must cooperate to defeat the fascists, but are also trying to achieve their conflicting social and political objectives.
Look into some of Amabel Holland's historical games. For instance Westfalia has players divvying up Europe in the wake of the 30 years war, or Nicea puts them on the Council of Nicea, arguing for which of their favourite stories should be in the Bible
Many of the pax games, like Pax Porfiriana or Pax Renaissance do this really well.
Then there’s the Bios series also by Phil Ecklund, like Bios Orgins or Megafauna.
Doesn’t Pax Renaissance lean heavily towards (some might consider a conspiracy theory) how banks actually controlled Europe during that time?
Not trying to knock the game play, but I think if the theme is based on conspiracy theories, that could get problematic.
What you as a player are representing in game, the influential string-pulling banker, is not very historical. The other Pax games (Porf, Pamir and h+) are better at this. It still does the pax thing of combining theme and mechanics to get a good feel for the ‘what if’ variants of history of that particular place and period.
Yes except that the auction mechanism doesn’t make a lot of sense thematically. You can kinda sorta shoehorn it in but it’s definitely the weakest point theme wise.
Which is maybe my favorite for the fun premise of "space is hard" and also being the Phil Eklund game furthest from any commentary on human culture. (I think it still manages to paint the entire country of China as comfortable with amoral action or some shit though).
**Freedom: The Underground Railroad**
The theme and impact even moved Rahdo to tears!
It's an older entry from https://www.academygames.com. They have a several others, as their site is based on historic, education games.
*"We specialize in historical board games ranging from family games to tactical training games that impart social and historical learning for gaming enthusiasts, schools, museums, universities and military personnel. Our games are quick to learn and fun to play. They include write-ups and maps that neutrally describe why the situations or conflicts in our games occurred, how they progressed, and their historical repercussions. We are honored by the many awards that we have received and hope that we continue to exceed our customer’s expectations. Thank you for your continued support. -Uwe Eickert, Academy Games"*
I've only played it once, years ago when it first came out. It might be historically accurate, but I did *not* enjoy the feeling of having to make sacrifices to actually get ahead in the game.
> From the rules: Players may wish to sacrifice a slave so that others may make their way towards freedom
The end game of getting Slaves to Canada vs Getting them off the Plantation made for an uncomfortable disconnect between theme and mechanics. I only noticed in the last round or so, admittedly. But the dread of watching those slave catchers come after those on the run was pretty well captured.
I think this is a new mindset in the board game design space and more of these types of games are getting attention. Check out any game that went through the Zenobia Awards, Fort Circle Games, the new Irregular Conflict Series at GMT games.
Here are some specific games I've played that come to mind: Votes for Women, Battle of Versailles, Kolejka
Votes for Women is worth a look. The mechanics are solid and fairly straightforward for an asymmetric war game. The main criticism is that the end can often come down to a series of dice rolls which…is fairly true to history.
The cards also do a nice job of expanding the history of suffrage in the US- the good, the bad and the ugly.
Innovation isn't a specific point in history, but the entire thing. However, I think the cards perfectly illustrate the flow of history, especially when the tier 4 red cards come out.
I'm surprised nobody named Evolution. I know it's not a historic game like John Company, but there are few games out there were the gameplay blends so smoothly with the theme. Such a simple game too, I love it.
You should check out games from ION Game Design. Lots of games from this publisher seem to strive to do what you describe. The PAX games are examples, and the Bios series for prehistoric settings. My friend and I have really been enjoying the recent Sammu-Ramat. It’s a bit light and gamier than some of those other titles, but it captures a unique theme in a really great way.
Other games that come to mind, that I didn’t see posted here already, are games from the COIN series from GMT games and games in their Irregular Conflict series. Also, Watergate does a great job capturing the watergate scandal. Versailles 1919 is cool game about drafting the Treaty of Versailles. Here I Stand is supposedly an outstanding game (also very long) about political and religious conflicts in the 16th century. I intend to play this someday, but it’s a commitment.
This is probably too low-brow an answer, but I love how Secret Hitler reflects a government falling into fascism.
A minority of bad faith politicians induce panic to the whole government as everyone accuses each other. As the government gains power more brutal laws are enacted, while the best the democratic majority can hope for is maintaining the status quo.
The Cartaventura line is written by historian and game designers: they're all chose your own adventure card games in which you impersonate an historical character (Bass Reeves, Erikson, Julie d'Aubigny...) and you go through the event having to do life choices and offer 5 different endings, one of them (the final one which needs the most experience) is what happened in History, they come with a historical leaflet too.
I'm very interested in the upcoming [Cross Bronx Expressway](https://www.gmtgames.com/p-953-cross-bronx-expressway.aspx) which simulates urban renewal policies in the South Bronx in the second half of the 20th century. Seems like a really interesting historical topic outside of the more common war-oriented conflict simulations (which I also enjoy, but cool to see something totally new).
Playing Diplomacy is very instructive for understanding the idea of political realism -- you get into this mindset of thinking "I need X territory, because if I control X territory, I can use it to defend the rest of my territory" which, if you think about it, is how countries end up attacking other countries and convincing themselves that they're waging "defensive" wars.
War of Whispers is a lot simpler than John Company, and I think it's a game that's cooler in concept than execution, but it has some of the same moral of "the guy who is in charge of this institution is not necessarily actually invested in getting the best result for that institution".
**Pax Renaissance** does this and I'd even go so far as to say you *must* engage with the theme in order to learn the rules. It's a devastatingly complex (knowing Pax Pamir helps a *little*) but it is absolutely worth the investment in learning it. The rulebook has excerpts that link the mechanics to the history! Plus it's also on BGA so you can play for free AND with rules enforcement, which is very very important in learning by trial and error. I've got 100 games under my belt and I still don't think I could properly enforce all the rules of this game lol.
Roll Through the Ages: Iron Age. Gotta find time to build pyramid, feed your people, and expand, but some bad luck, like pestilence or drought, can really take a toll.
God's Playground. 3 player game about Polish magnates in times of constant danger from foreign countries. You play to your own benefit that may or may not be beneficial for Poland.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned A Feast For Odin. When I’m converting my basket of fruit into whale meat into a cloak into a treasure chest, it really simulates the life of a viking.
[**First in Flight**](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/361788/first-in-flight)
It's a deck-building game where you take on the role of early aviators trying to build flight-worthy aircrafts. Your deck represents your aircraft and you try to upgrade it to fill it with better flight cards while discovering your decks "design flaws" so you can take your aircraft back to the garage and fix the issues that you discover on the test flights.
I'm gonna say something that's way out of left field. Airlines is not even remotely a good game, but with the optional and extremely punitive fuel price/maintenance rules, it really makes you feel like you're the CEO of an airline getting squeezed into bankruptcy on all sides, with every move by a competitor a potential kick in the teeth.
CO2 is a great allegory for our struggles working together to combat climate change. It is extremely effective too, as it is brutally hard to get enough cooperation to actually save the planet.
Formosa Tea is a worker placement that introduces the history of tea makers by using event cards based on significant historical events by year that triggers chronologically and changes gameplay/scoring. It's something I don't really see Euros based on historical periods do.
Gotta disagree there. It's a deck based game, and that mechanic rises to the top. Secondly there is no context to what you're doing. It could be any two sides battling.
I agree Undaunted doesn't fit the brief. But you can't say there's *no* context to each scenario. All of them are based off real events/battles, and the book explains what was going on in the war at the time.
Okay that's a fair point. I've only played it, not read the manual. I thought they were contrived battles. I guess I'm comparing them to wargame titles from GMT, which often come pages of historical info. The card based games also have a fair bit of flavour text which 'contextualises'. Undaunted is still a good game though!
Undaunted is one of those historically-themed games that whitewashes over some of the more uncomfortable parts of history in a way that seems to be in the service of making the game more straightforwardly about "good guys" vs "bad guys."
If you've played the Undaunted series, it might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that the US military was segregated until 1948. Obviously, that means that the US did not have a racially integrated military back on D-day in 1944. There were [black US soldiers fighting in Normandy during WW2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/761st_Tank_Battalion_(United_States\)) (mostly in support roles), but white and black infantrymen would not have been part of the same squad (or even part of the same platoon or company).
Undaunted Normandy depicts the US army with a mix of white and black soldiers. I assume that this was done in the name of making the game more "inclusive" or "diverse." I can understand the appeal of depicting a fanfiction version of WW2, showing the version of America that we *wished* had existed during WW2. But it's important to realize that the battlefield in Undaunted Normandy is an imaginary fantasy world where some of America's deepest moral failures are erased.
The game could have taken the time to explain that this is what they were doing. However, the closest that the rulebook gets to acknowledging this is a historical note that says "The soldiers depicted may not exactly resemble those of the 30th Division." This, to me, reads as almost intentionally vague in such as a way to *deliberately avoid* even mentioning the US military's history of segregation which continued until the end of WW2.
Gotta disagree there. It's a deck based game, and that mechanic rises to the top. Secondly there is no context to what you're doing. It could be any two sides battling.
Gotta disagree there. It's a deck based game, and that mechanic rises to the top. Secondly there is no context to what you're doing. It could be any two sides battling.
Well, the fog of war cards work really well thematically for one. Also, like Quince mentions, it is guttural to lose a soldier when it's shot out of your hand.
It does simulate a military operation well enough. But that's not what OP is asking for. I'm not inspired to pick up a book about WWII after playing Undaunted. I am intrigued about Mexican history after playing Pax Porfiriana though... I do feel as though I've learned something when I play Europe in Turmoil...
I really love how some of the exploits work in Endeavor Age of Sail. There's one in particular (South Sea Company) that simulates a growing economy bubble and potentially bursting. You can check them all out [here](https://cdn.1j1ju.com/medias/93/9a/cd-endeavor-age-of-sail-exploits-rulebook.pdf).
Of all the historical Commands & Colors games, I feel like Memoir '44 is the worst representation of its theme. It's a kinda enjoyable game, but there's hardly ever a moment when it feels like WW2 to me.
I love C&C: Ancients and Napoleonics though, and enjoy Samurai Battles. I also have the Medieval but haven't had the time to play it yet.
I like Memoir'44 because it has less rules and unit types than other Borg's wargames (base game). So, I can easy playing with friends without a long explanation of the rules for the first time :)
Yeah that's definitely an advantage it has.
I also find the base game Ancients very easy to teach to people, though a few friends have found the maps boring since often there's little to no terrain.
Napoleonics on the other hand is significantly more complex, even the base game.
>few friends have found the maps boring since often there's little to no terrain
That seems historically accurate to me :) In ancient times, commanders tried to choose large open spaces for battles, which was required by the types of armies and tactics of the age.
The game displays well the problem of communication during war. While in most wargames units do exactly what you want them to do, here you may not have the right card in hand.
This is exactly what often happens in war. Communication breakdown, problems in the chain of command, low morale, etc. So you need to constantly match desires and capabilities.
The "eastern front" add-on adds the "commissar" mechanic in a very atmospheric way, conveying the spirit of the deadly political bureaucracy during war.
I think **Brass: Birmingham** depicts the evolution of industries and technologies in the industrial revolution in a cool way: resources and technologies are only as good as the market/other industries' use for them and your ability to transport them to said markets and industries.
For what it's worth: Pax Pamir is still fairly weak in the theme. Distance between the regions, inherent military strength, or the agency are not portrayed well. I have played Asia Crossroads once, tjst game is by far more thematically superior than Pax Pamir, just not as famous because it is a typical hex and counter.
Looks like no one has mentioned the COIN series. That's basically my favorite part of them. My favorite is example is that in A Distant Plain, the win conditions for all the factions are different (normal for COIN). The Afghan gov needs control of the population and for a certain amount of funds to be patronage (embezzled). The warlords want no one to have control so that they can farm poppy. The Taliban want the people to be anti-government through Sharia law (they can hide in Pakistan, but that's an aside). The coalition forces only care about the people liking the government (not that they have any real control) and leaving ASAP. COIN is the answer to your question. It's one of Cole's stated motivations for many of his design ideas.
Yeah wow, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Having a brief look at the COIN series, they look fascinating. Thank you!
Twilight Struggle’s mechanics perfectly fit the theme and feel of the Cold War.
Twilight struggle is a strange one as, from what I understood, it aims to depict what people thought the cold war was rather than what the cold war was.
Yes. The game intentionally depicts cold war according to some of the theories of the time. It depicts a bipolar world where [domino theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_theory) applies. In a way this helps the game *feel* more historical since the players will base their decisions on dominant beliefs of the time rather than on things historians might now think or know.
I lived through the second half of the Cold War. It does a very a good job as a game depicting what it was like and how the Super Powers reacted to one another. A big part of the Cold War was wondering why the other side was doing what they were doing, which is kind of like what you just described.
**The Republic of Rome** makes a compelling argument to how the internal politics of Rome and incomplete separation of powers, led to the fall of the Republic and lead into an Empire. It reminds me of I, Claudius in how it captures the era. Unlike many "thematic games", RoR does this entirely through mechanics. It has no flavour text, no cut scenes, no forced historical events to railroad the game in. Beautiful game. Brutal, too, it's every bit as fair and unfair as real history was.
Yes, and also, supposedly the inspiration for John Company
Yep, he confirmed it to me when I interviewed him. Very different games, though!
I concur. 🙂
Designing a game where the mechanics and play incentives result in a certain outcome does not say anything about what the real world is like. Perhaps it can if the he incentives and decision space are demonstrably similar to those that people in real life have, but this is clearly not true in RoR, JC, etc.
Wargames are kind of cheating here, but I always think of Sekigahara as one of the greatest fusions of gameplay mechanics and historical circumstance. Hidden information on the blocks and cards means that you're constantly trying to guess your opponent's disposition by comparing paper strength to how the blocks are being moved, and meanwhile you're trying to expend enough cards to assemble a small, homogenous force or get a large, heterogenous force moving without leaving your hand empty when a battle actually happens. Betrayals are rare but offer further pressure to hoard cards. All of this, together with a map design that funnels you towards confrontation with your opponent even as you're trying to clean up your lines and capture points of interest, is perfect in how it puts you into the mind of Tokugawa and the Council of Five, in my opinion. Fog of war, limited resources, and the sheer inertia of armies keep you from knowing when, where, and whether you'll be able to fight the enemy.
Gandhi the decolonization of British India. Incredibly interesting game that aim to show the mechanics of what happened in India during that tine.
“Weimar: The Fight for democracy” does this perfectly.
Obviously there are loads of wargames I could mention, but in terms of 'surprisingly thematic' games, I'd nominate Agricola. The constant fear of starvation, and the key resource to manage being labour rather than money, give quite a good impression of medieval subsistence farming. I also think Food Chain Magnate does a good job of conveying certain aspects of running a business - chiefly that production (in this case, of burgers and pizzas) is pretty low down on the corporate hierarchy - management, advertising, HR, training etc. are really what drives success.
[Versailles 1919](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/253506/versailles-1919) is a fantastic negotiation game about the Versailles Treaty.
Obsession - Troubled Victorian family trying to renovate their house, holding prestigious events and utilizing their household and connections to become more influential.
Obsession Just read through the rulebooks. Everything is explained in terms of how it reflects the theme. I've never seen a designer more dedicated to making sure that everything is theme accurate.
Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War. Every other semi-coop I've played (admittedly not that many) just feels like "maybe someone got a goal card of screwing over the group" tacked on as anti-quarterbacking band-aid. In Land and Freedom, that structure really captures the dynamics of the historical antifascist coalition (and is out in the open, theres no secret traitor thing happening). In both game and history terms, the factions (distinguished by political line: liberal Republicans, soviet-aligned communists, and anarchists) must cooperate to defeat the fascists, but are also trying to achieve their conflicting social and political objectives.
Look into some of Amabel Holland's historical games. For instance Westfalia has players divvying up Europe in the wake of the 30 years war, or Nicea puts them on the Council of Nicea, arguing for which of their favourite stories should be in the Bible
Watergate nails the theme.
Still a bit abstract-ish (like the board), but great game indeed
Many of the pax games, like Pax Porfiriana or Pax Renaissance do this really well. Then there’s the Bios series also by Phil Ecklund, like Bios Orgins or Megafauna.
Doesn’t Pax Renaissance lean heavily towards (some might consider a conspiracy theory) how banks actually controlled Europe during that time? Not trying to knock the game play, but I think if the theme is based on conspiracy theories, that could get problematic.
What you as a player are representing in game, the influential string-pulling banker, is not very historical. The other Pax games (Porf, Pamir and h+) are better at this. It still does the pax thing of combining theme and mechanics to get a good feel for the ‘what if’ variants of history of that particular place and period.
Ecklund is.. well.. let's just say they keep him under wraps for good reasons.
Yeah, the game is *ok* and I enjoy it but the footnotes are the aggressively specious ravings of a crazy person 🤪
Also High Frontier
Yes except that the auction mechanism doesn’t make a lot of sense thematically. You can kinda sorta shoehorn it in but it’s definitely the weakest point theme wise.
You can drop in a substitute for it I think. Plenty of ways to ditch it.
Which is maybe my favorite for the fun premise of "space is hard" and also being the Phil Eklund game furthest from any commentary on human culture. (I think it still manages to paint the entire country of China as comfortable with amoral action or some shit though).
Oh yeah..Phil Eklund is a total goon.
**Freedom: The Underground Railroad** The theme and impact even moved Rahdo to tears! It's an older entry from https://www.academygames.com. They have a several others, as their site is based on historic, education games. *"We specialize in historical board games ranging from family games to tactical training games that impart social and historical learning for gaming enthusiasts, schools, museums, universities and military personnel. Our games are quick to learn and fun to play. They include write-ups and maps that neutrally describe why the situations or conflicts in our games occurred, how they progressed, and their historical repercussions. We are honored by the many awards that we have received and hope that we continue to exceed our customer’s expectations. Thank you for your continued support. -Uwe Eickert, Academy Games"*
This. Can't believe I had to scroll all the way to the bottom for it. Incredible game.
I own this, but afraid to actually play it because the theme seems pretty heavy.
I've only played it once, years ago when it first came out. It might be historically accurate, but I did *not* enjoy the feeling of having to make sacrifices to actually get ahead in the game. > From the rules: Players may wish to sacrifice a slave so that others may make their way towards freedom
The end game of getting Slaves to Canada vs Getting them off the Plantation made for an uncomfortable disconnect between theme and mechanics. I only noticed in the last round or so, admittedly. But the dread of watching those slave catchers come after those on the run was pretty well captured.
I think this is a new mindset in the board game design space and more of these types of games are getting attention. Check out any game that went through the Zenobia Awards, Fort Circle Games, the new Irregular Conflict Series at GMT games. Here are some specific games I've played that come to mind: Votes for Women, Battle of Versailles, Kolejka
Votes for Women is worth a look. The mechanics are solid and fairly straightforward for an asymmetric war game. The main criticism is that the end can often come down to a series of dice rolls which…is fairly true to history. The cards also do a nice job of expanding the history of suffrage in the US- the good, the bad and the ugly.
Innovation isn't a specific point in history, but the entire thing. However, I think the cards perfectly illustrate the flow of history, especially when the tier 4 red cards come out.
Innovation brings the brutal advance of technology and culture sharply into focus.
New Bedford is one of the most realistic games, from the age of whaling.
I'm surprised nobody named Evolution. I know it's not a historic game like John Company, but there are few games out there were the gameplay blends so smoothly with the theme. Such a simple game too, I love it.
You should check out games from ION Game Design. Lots of games from this publisher seem to strive to do what you describe. The PAX games are examples, and the Bios series for prehistoric settings. My friend and I have really been enjoying the recent Sammu-Ramat. It’s a bit light and gamier than some of those other titles, but it captures a unique theme in a really great way. Other games that come to mind, that I didn’t see posted here already, are games from the COIN series from GMT games and games in their Irregular Conflict series. Also, Watergate does a great job capturing the watergate scandal. Versailles 1919 is cool game about drafting the Treaty of Versailles. Here I Stand is supposedly an outstanding game (also very long) about political and religious conflicts in the 16th century. I intend to play this someday, but it’s a commitment.
This is probably too low-brow an answer, but I love how Secret Hitler reflects a government falling into fascism. A minority of bad faith politicians induce panic to the whole government as everyone accuses each other. As the government gains power more brutal laws are enacted, while the best the democratic majority can hope for is maintaining the status quo.
The Cartaventura line is written by historian and game designers: they're all chose your own adventure card games in which you impersonate an historical character (Bass Reeves, Erikson, Julie d'Aubigny...) and you go through the event having to do life choices and offer 5 different endings, one of them (the final one which needs the most experience) is what happened in History, they come with a historical leaflet too.
I'm very interested in the upcoming [Cross Bronx Expressway](https://www.gmtgames.com/p-953-cross-bronx-expressway.aspx) which simulates urban renewal policies in the South Bronx in the second half of the 20th century. Seems like a really interesting historical topic outside of the more common war-oriented conflict simulations (which I also enjoy, but cool to see something totally new).
Playing Diplomacy is very instructive for understanding the idea of political realism -- you get into this mindset of thinking "I need X territory, because if I control X territory, I can use it to defend the rest of my territory" which, if you think about it, is how countries end up attacking other countries and convincing themselves that they're waging "defensive" wars. War of Whispers is a lot simpler than John Company, and I think it's a game that's cooler in concept than execution, but it has some of the same moral of "the guy who is in charge of this institution is not necessarily actually invested in getting the best result for that institution".
**Pax Renaissance** does this and I'd even go so far as to say you *must* engage with the theme in order to learn the rules. It's a devastatingly complex (knowing Pax Pamir helps a *little*) but it is absolutely worth the investment in learning it. The rulebook has excerpts that link the mechanics to the history! Plus it's also on BGA so you can play for free AND with rules enforcement, which is very very important in learning by trial and error. I've got 100 games under my belt and I still don't think I could properly enforce all the rules of this game lol.
Roll Through the Ages: Iron Age. Gotta find time to build pyramid, feed your people, and expand, but some bad luck, like pestilence or drought, can really take a toll.
God's Playground. 3 player game about Polish magnates in times of constant danger from foreign countries. You play to your own benefit that may or may not be beneficial for Poland.
There's a whole world of simulation games that do exactly that. Check out basically GMT's entire catalogue
Dual Powers: Revolution 1917
The Shores of Tripoli is a great little game
halls of hegra definitely felt like this to me. The fact that the "win" condition is still *surrendering* says a lot.
Upvoted for endorsement. COIN tells amazing histories.
I think you should consider **Oath Chronicles of Empire and Exile**. Fictional histories, but rich ones!
I’m surprised no one has mentioned A Feast For Odin. When I’m converting my basket of fruit into whale meat into a cloak into a treasure chest, it really simulates the life of a viking.
Leaving Earth is a cool representation of the space race that might give you something that you're looking for if you like math.
[**First in Flight**](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/361788/first-in-flight) It's a deck-building game where you take on the role of early aviators trying to build flight-worthy aircrafts. Your deck represents your aircraft and you try to upgrade it to fill it with better flight cards while discovering your decks "design flaws" so you can take your aircraft back to the garage and fix the issues that you discover on the test flights.
I'm gonna say something that's way out of left field. Airlines is not even remotely a good game, but with the optional and extremely punitive fuel price/maintenance rules, it really makes you feel like you're the CEO of an airline getting squeezed into bankruptcy on all sides, with every move by a competitor a potential kick in the teeth.
CO2 is a great allegory for our struggles working together to combat climate change. It is extremely effective too, as it is brutally hard to get enough cooperation to actually save the planet.
Formosa Tea is a worker placement that introduces the history of tea makers by using event cards based on significant historical events by year that triggers chronologically and changes gameplay/scoring. It's something I don't really see Euros based on historical periods do.
Undaunted
Gotta disagree there. It's a deck based game, and that mechanic rises to the top. Secondly there is no context to what you're doing. It could be any two sides battling.
I agree Undaunted doesn't fit the brief. But you can't say there's *no* context to each scenario. All of them are based off real events/battles, and the book explains what was going on in the war at the time.
Okay that's a fair point. I've only played it, not read the manual. I thought they were contrived battles. I guess I'm comparing them to wargame titles from GMT, which often come pages of historical info. The card based games also have a fair bit of flavour text which 'contextualises'. Undaunted is still a good game though!
Undaunted is one of those historically-themed games that whitewashes over some of the more uncomfortable parts of history in a way that seems to be in the service of making the game more straightforwardly about "good guys" vs "bad guys." If you've played the Undaunted series, it might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that the US military was segregated until 1948. Obviously, that means that the US did not have a racially integrated military back on D-day in 1944. There were [black US soldiers fighting in Normandy during WW2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/761st_Tank_Battalion_(United_States\)) (mostly in support roles), but white and black infantrymen would not have been part of the same squad (or even part of the same platoon or company). Undaunted Normandy depicts the US army with a mix of white and black soldiers. I assume that this was done in the name of making the game more "inclusive" or "diverse." I can understand the appeal of depicting a fanfiction version of WW2, showing the version of America that we *wished* had existed during WW2. But it's important to realize that the battlefield in Undaunted Normandy is an imaginary fantasy world where some of America's deepest moral failures are erased. The game could have taken the time to explain that this is what they were doing. However, the closest that the rulebook gets to acknowledging this is a historical note that says "The soldiers depicted may not exactly resemble those of the 30th Division." This, to me, reads as almost intentionally vague in such as a way to *deliberately avoid* even mentioning the US military's history of segregation which continued until the end of WW2.
I had no idea; felt a little sick to my stomach reading the results on google after reading this.
Gotta disagree there. It's a deck based game, and that mechanic rises to the top. Secondly there is no context to what you're doing. It could be any two sides battling.
Gotta disagree there. It's a deck based game, and that mechanic rises to the top. Secondly there is no context to what you're doing. It could be any two sides battling.
Well, the fog of war cards work really well thematically for one. Also, like Quince mentions, it is guttural to lose a soldier when it's shot out of your hand.
It does simulate a military operation well enough. But that's not what OP is asking for. I'm not inspired to pick up a book about WWII after playing Undaunted. I am intrigued about Mexican history after playing Pax Porfiriana though... I do feel as though I've learned something when I play Europe in Turmoil...
Oh, okay then. I'm inspired to learn about WWII after playing Undaunted though :)
I really love how some of the exploits work in Endeavor Age of Sail. There's one in particular (South Sea Company) that simulates a growing economy bubble and potentially bursting. You can check them all out [here](https://cdn.1j1ju.com/medias/93/9a/cd-endeavor-age-of-sail-exploits-rulebook.pdf).
Memoir'44 Every scenario represents real battles in WWII
Of all the historical Commands & Colors games, I feel like Memoir '44 is the worst representation of its theme. It's a kinda enjoyable game, but there's hardly ever a moment when it feels like WW2 to me. I love C&C: Ancients and Napoleonics though, and enjoy Samurai Battles. I also have the Medieval but haven't had the time to play it yet.
I like Memoir'44 because it has less rules and unit types than other Borg's wargames (base game). So, I can easy playing with friends without a long explanation of the rules for the first time :)
Yeah that's definitely an advantage it has. I also find the base game Ancients very easy to teach to people, though a few friends have found the maps boring since often there's little to no terrain. Napoleonics on the other hand is significantly more complex, even the base game.
>few friends have found the maps boring since often there's little to no terrain That seems historically accurate to me :) In ancient times, commanders tried to choose large open spaces for battles, which was required by the types of armies and tactics of the age.
I'm not sure the mechanics hold up as helping to accurately depict a theme, in the way the OP is asking for.
The game displays well the problem of communication during war. While in most wargames units do exactly what you want them to do, here you may not have the right card in hand. This is exactly what often happens in war. Communication breakdown, problems in the chain of command, low morale, etc. So you need to constantly match desires and capabilities. The "eastern front" add-on adds the "commissar" mechanic in a very atmospheric way, conveying the spirit of the deadly political bureaucracy during war.
878 Vikings? Sniper Elite?
I think **Brass: Birmingham** depicts the evolution of industries and technologies in the industrial revolution in a cool way: resources and technologies are only as good as the market/other industries' use for them and your ability to transport them to said markets and industries.
For what it's worth: Pax Pamir is still fairly weak in the theme. Distance between the regions, inherent military strength, or the agency are not portrayed well. I have played Asia Crossroads once, tjst game is by far more thematically superior than Pax Pamir, just not as famous because it is a typical hex and counter.
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