NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON
In the early 1980's a group of tabletop gamers living in Central Pennsylvania had the same idea that most groups of tabletop gamers inevitably have. To take their "House Rules" which they thought improved the games they were playing at the time and use them to design their own game that would be more fun to play than anything else available on the market.
The concept was simple -- to develop The Ultimate War Game. A war game that didn't always take days to play. One where individual players had more agency over the minute-to-minute political happenings on the board and where Acts of God or moments of happenstance could turn the tides of war at the drop of a hat.
The team quickly got to work creating the earliest iterations of the game. Starting with the creation of a mold for one of the game's now iconic central pieces- The Mushroom Cloud.
Originally made from plaster of paris and hand-painted, the Mushroom Cloud would serve as the proof-of-concept the friends needed to move forward with the DIY development of their game. A game they now called Nuclear Armageddon.
Throughout the remainder of the '80's the friends continued to develop the game, and the processes for manufacturing its component pieces. Eventually the game was ready to share with the public, and the friends brought Nuclear Armageddon to board-gaming conventions where it quickly developed a small but dedicated following.
The group knew they had something special on their hands and continued developing the game and getting it into as many hands as humanly possible.
Nuclear Armageddon's rise to becoming a household name seemed inevitable, but there was one problem. Life got in the way.
Members of the group moved away for school, work, and other opportunities. Eventually they became parents and spouses and the need to excel in careers of their own took priority over their labor-of-love. Over time and without the funding of a major publisher to keep the game afloat, development of Nuclear Armageddon fell by the wayside only to be enjoyed by those who already owned a copy and could occasionally enjoy a game in their free time.
For over thirty-five years it looked like Nuclear Armageddon would be forever doomed to live in obscurity and in the memories of those who once enjoyed it. That was until 2021 when a handful of members of that original fateful group of friends made the decision to revive the game and put Nuclear Armageddon back into active development.
Now in 2024 the release of the new Nuclear Armageddon looms on the horizon. Modernized with new game pieces, a new map, new artwork, new rules, and a wealth of future content and expansions planned -- the game goes on.
Nearly 40 years after its inception, the game is almost ready for its newfound release. Fully poised and prepared to charm and elate a whole new generation of tabletop gamers who never got the chance to play The Ultimate War Game.