A new chapter in the iconic Twilight Struggle series is about to be written. The next game in the acclaimed tabletop war game franchise is Twilight Struggle: South Asian Monsoon which is due to arrive in 2024.
The Behemoths Face Steely Resolve in Asia
The game will focus on the difficulties the United States faces in Asia and its opposition to China. True to historic events, the new game will be a much more abridged version of the Twilight Struggle base game, but a longer installment than, say, Twilight Struggle: Red Sea.
The new game is a standalone product that plays for 1-2 people and runs for 75-120 minutes, fit for players aged 12+. The title will have four turns with the story following the Tibetan Insurrection in China and the rapprochement between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
While military prowess will have a say here, the entire game is an outlier in the series, owing to the specific geopolitical context. The struggles of the Soviet Union against the United States and vice versa can hardly have the same militaristic manifestation in Asia where both nations would struggle to bring their weapons and army to bear.
That is why the states in the region are capable of resisting any threats dictated by the either political hegemon. These nations are reunited under the Non-Aligned Movement which will be a central piece of the new game. Players will enter various strives with independent states that do not wish to be pulled into either side’s sphere of influence.
Focusing on More Parts of the Cold War That Merit Examination
Designers Jason Carr and Jason Matthews are also introducing a new “Engagement Actions” system that will have players also scheme about the future of China once Mao is removed from power. The game will focus a lot on some of the important figures of the Cold War period that were not covered so well in the previous installments.
Some of the figures to be followed include Mao, Dali Lama, Indira Gandhi, Khruschev, Nehru, and more interesting and seminal figures. Interestingly, the designers want the cards found in Asian Monsoon to be compatible with the base game and vice versa, making for some unique and interesting overlap there.