A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is set to be released in January 2025, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now.
The new game, titled 2045, tasks gamers with navigating the troubles of war by using colourful action cards, and role-playing characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan, as per Reuters.
That includes members of Taiwan's armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents, and pro-China politicians working to sabotage the island's defence, as well as citizens picking up guns to defend their homeland.
Taiwanese board game maker Mizo Games started crowdfunding the game in August. Within two-and-a-half-months, the company had received more than T$4 million (USD121,966) to fund the project.
"It is not quite peaceful around Taiwan island and the Western Pacific as we speak," Chang Shao Lian, the founder of Mizo Games, told Reuters at his Taipei office.
Chang said he wanted "players to feel they want to win and think about what they will do to win".
The game, which is also set to go on sale in the US and Europe later in the year, has been developed at a time when Taiwan officials have intensified preparations for scenarios including a China conflict.
Players who participated in a test run of 2045 said they learnt about what might happen in the event of a Chinese invasion and that they hoped the game could help people understand the implications of a war.
"I'm not very knowledgeable on military matters, therefore through this game I learnt about where the army may land and launch an attack," said Kalin Lai, a 23-year-old who tried out the game.
Mizo has previously created two other Taiwan war-themed board games - one about surviving an air raid in Taipei and the other about a bombing in Kaohsiung during Japan's colonisation of the island between 1895 and 1945. ($1=32.7960 Taiwan dollars). REUTERS
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