Twilight Squabble Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Set-Up
• Terminology
• Card Anatomy
• Turn Order
• Phase Detail
  • 1. Draw Activity Cards
  • 2. Play Cards
  • 3. Agents
  • 4. Socio-Economic Impact
  • 5. Reveal Activities
  • 6. Counter Activities
  • 7. Measure Balance of Power
  • 8. The Space Race
  • 9. Socio-Economic Event
  • 10. Check for Victory
• Event Deck
• Turn Example
• Quick Reference

Object of the Game

There are two ways to win in Twilight Squabble:

• The End of the War: If the final era of the war (1985-1991) has been played, then the game ends. If the Balance of Power is in favor of one of the Superpowers, then that Superpower wins. If the Balance of Power is on DEFCON 5, then whoever has the Space Race Leader card wins!
• Mutually Assured Destruction: If the Balance of Power token ever lands on a Mushroom Cloud, then nuclear war has begun! Everyone will die, as represented by the background color of the Mushroom Cloud space (red for Russia, blue for America). Note that this means that if the Balance of Power shifts too far in your favor, you lose the game and your opponent wins.

Components

• Russian Activity Deck – 17 Cards
• American Activity Deck – 17 Cards
• Event Deck – 10 Cards
• 1x Balance of Power Track
• 1x White Balance of Power Token
• 1x Space Race Track
• 1x Space Race Leader Card
• 4x Red (Russian) Tokens
• 4x Blue (American) Tokens
• Socio-Economic Tokens
• Card Backs

The Event Deck is used only with the optional Event rules described below.

Set-Up

1. Place the Balance of Power and Space Race tracks in the center of the table next to each other.
2. Place the white Balance of Power token on the DEFCON 5 space on the Balance of Power track. Place a red token and a blue token on the Start space on the Space Race track. Place the remaining tokens in a pile off to the side—they will be used as Socio-Economic tokens.
3. Place the Space Race Leader card next to the Space Race track.
4. Each player chooses a Superpower and takes the corresponding Activity deck.
5. Each player removes the Agent and Double Agent cards from their Activity decks and places them into their hands.
6. The remaining 15 Activity cards for each player should be sorted into the five eras of the Cold War. Each era has three cards. The cards from the final era (1985-1991) should be placed face down at the bottom of each player's deck, and each previous era's cards placed face down on top of them in chronological order.

Figure note: Activity Card Set-Up. The printed play-area diagram labels the American Play Area (Space Race Leader Card, Balance of Power, Space Race, Socio-Economic Tokens) and the Russian Play Area (Balance of Power, Space Race, Socio-Economic Tokens).

Terminology

Superpower: "Superpower" is a generic term referring to the American and Russian players.

The Balance of Power: The Balance of Power represents the tug-of-war between America and Russia for control in the war. It is represented in Twilight Squabble by the position of the white Balance of Power token on the Balance of Power track. If the token occupies the DEFCON 5 space, then the Balance of Power is considered neutral, and neither Superpower has an advantage. If the token occupies any other space on the track, then the Balance of Power is considered to be in favor of one of the Superpowers. If the token occupies a blue space, the Balance of Power is in favor of America. If it occupies a red space, it is in favor of Russia.

Activity Value: Twilight Squabble consists primarily of the Superpowers playing Activity cards against one another to shift the Balance of Power and to move forward in the Space Race. The Activity Value of a card is in the upper left corner of an Activity card. This number can be adjusted by Socio-Economic tokens (see page 10), and so "Activity Value" refers to the final value of an Activity card after all modifiers have been applied. "Printed Activity Value" refers to the Activity Value prior to any modification, as it appears on the card.

Era: Each turn of Twilight Squabble represents one of the five eras of the Cold War. The era is indicated by a range of years at the top of an Activity card.

Balance of Power Card: The Activity card played by a Superpower next to the Balance of Power track.

Space Race Card: The Activity card played by a Superpower next to the Space Race track.

Card Anatomy

An Activity card has the following parts: Activity Value (upper left corner), Space Symbol, Era (years at the top), Card Title, and Counter Value (bottom right corner).

Turn Order

Twilight Squabble takes place over the course of one to five turns. Each turn consists of the following phases, in order:

1. Draw Activity Cards: Each Superpower draws the top three Activity cards from his or her deck.
2. Play Cards: Each Superpower plays a card face down next to the Balance of Power track and another face down next to the Space Race track.
3. Agents: All Agents and Double Agents played by either Superpower are revealed and resolved.
4. Socio-Economic Impact: If either Superpower has Socio-Economic tokens available, they may choose to place them on their Balance of Power card and/or their Space Race card.
5. Reveal Activities: Both Superpowers reveal their Balance of Power cards.
6. Counter Activities: Each Superpower has the opportunity to play a Counter Activity to negate their opponent's Balance of Power card.
7. Measure Balance of Power: The Superpowers calculate how far the Balance of Power shifts towards one of them.
8. The Space Race: Both Superpowers reveal their Space Race cards, and one Superpower advances.
9. Socio-Economic Event: Both Superpowers use Activity cards remaining in their hands to take Socio-Economic tokens.
10. Check for Victory: Check to see if either player has won the game, or if the war will continue with another turn!

Phase Detail

1. Draw Activity Cards

Both Superpowers draw the top three cards of their deck (consisting of the next era).

2. Play Cards

Both Superpowers play cards face down from their hands. They each play one Activity card next to the Space Race track (their Space Race card), and an Activity card, Agent, or Double Agent card next to the Balance of Power track (their Balance of Power card).

3. Agents

If neither Superpower played an Agent or a Double Agent, advance to Phase 4. If any Agents or Double Agents were played, they are revealed and their effects are resolved, as described below.

Agents: A Superpower who played an Agent may reveal their opponent's Space Race card, allowing them to gain information about what their opponent's Balance of Power card might be.

A Double Agent and an Agent: If one of the Superpowers has played a Double Agent and the other has played an Agent, then the Double Agent converts the Agent to his or her cause. The Agent gets discarded without using its ability, and the Superpower who played the Double Agent reveals their opponent's Space Race card.

Two Double Agents: If both Double Agents are played in the same turn, they both fail and are discarded without effect.

One Double Agent: If one Double Agent card is played and no other Agents or Double Agents are played, the Superpower who played the Double Agent retrieves his or her Agent from their discard pile (if able) and discards the Double Agent.

Once all Agents have been resolved, any Superpower who played an Agent replaces it with one of their remaining Activity cards, played face down next to the Balance of Power.

4. Socio-Economic Impact

If either Superpower has Socio-Economic tokens available, they may place any number of them on top of their Balance of Power card and/or Space Race card to increase or negate its effect (see Phase 5: Reveal Activities and Phase 8: The Space Race). If both Superpowers have tokens, whoever has the Balance of Power in their favor plays first. If the Balance of Power is neutral, Russia plays first.

5. Reveal Activities

Both Superpowers reveal their Balance of Power cards. If either Superpower placed Socio-Economic tokens on their card, they affect its value: if the number of Socio-Economic tokens is equal to the card's Activity Value, the Activity Value becomes 0; otherwise the card's Activity Value is increased by one for each token.

6. Counter Activities

Once Activities have been revealed, both Superpowers have an opportunity to play Counter Activities to negate their opponent's Balance of Power card. Whoever has the Balance of Power in their favor goes first, and if the Balance of Power is neutral, America goes first. If the Superpower has an Activity card in their hand with a Counter Value equal to the printed Activity Value of their opponent's Balance of Power card, they may play the card as a Counter Activity.

Figure note: The American player is able to counter the Russian player because his Counter Value is equal to the Russian's Activity Value.

An Activity card's Counter Value is displayed on the bottom right corner of the card. If a Superpower plays a Counter Activity, the other Superpower's Balance of Power card is canceled and discarded, and any Socio-Economic tokens on the card are immediately returned to the supply.

7. Measure Balance of Power

Total the Activity Value of any Balance of Power cards left in play, including the adjustment from Socio-Economic tokens. The Balance of Power will shift towards whichever Superpower's Activity Value was higher, moving a number of spaces equal to the difference between the two Activity Values. If the Balance of Power token reaches a Mushroom Cloud space, it stops immediately and the game ends (see "Check for Victory" on page 13).

Example: The American player's adjusted Activity Value is 5 and the Russian's Activity Value is 3. So the Balance of Power token is moved two spaces toward the American side (blue).

8. The Space Race

Both Space Race cards are revealed. If either player used Socio-Economic tokens on their Space Race card, add the number of tokens to the printed Activity Value of the card. Whoever has the higher total Activity Value advances one space on the Space Race track.

If there is a tie and either of the cards has a Space Symbol on it, the Superpower with the Space Symbol wins. If there is a tie and neither or both cards have Space Symbols, neither Superpower advances.

If one of the Superpowers advances, he or she can collect a reward:

• Space 1: When a Superpower reaches Space 1, they may immediately take one Socio-Economic token from the supply.
• Space 2: When a Superpower reaches Space 2, they may immediately shift the Balance of Power one space towards their end of the track.

At the end of this step, if one Superpower has moved ahead of the other on the Space Race track they take the Space Race Leader card. If the Superpowers are tied on the track, the Space Race Leader card stays with the current Superpower who has it.

9. Socio-Economic Event

If a Superpower still has an Activity card in his or her hand, they may take a number of Socio-Economic tokens of their color from the supply up to the card's Activity value. These tokens are available to use for the following turns. A Superpower can never have more than three Socio-Economic tokens available. After Socio-Economic tokens in the supply have been claimed, return any tokens used this turn to the supply.

10. Check for Victory

Check to see if either player has won the game by Mutually Assured Destruction. If not, and the final era of the war has not been played, discard all cards played this turn, then return to Phase 1 and begin the next turn. If the final era of the war has been played, whichever Superpower has the Balance of Power in their favor wins the game! If the Balance of Power is on DEFCON 5, then whoever has the Space Race Leader card wins!

Event Deck

When players are familiar with the rules and structure of Twilight Squabble, then they may add the Event deck to the game for variety.

Set-Up: After step 1 in set-up, shuffle the Event deck and place it face down next to the Balance of Power track.

Turn Order: During the Draw Activity Cards phase, each Superpower draws the top three Activity cards from his or her deck as normal, then the top card of the Event deck is revealed and read aloud.

Phase Detail: The top card of the Event deck is revealed and placed face up next to the deck, on top of any previously revealed Event cards. The new Event card remains in effect, as detailed on the card, until it is covered by another Event card.

Turn Example

Scott and John are ready to start turn three of the game. Scott chooses his Russian Agent and places it face down next to the Balance of Power track and Tsar Bomba (Activity Value 2 and Space Symbol) on the Space Race track. John places his American Man on the Moon (Activity Value 3) on the Balance of Power track and Vietnam (Activity Value 2) on the Space Race track. Next, Scott reveals that he has an Agent in play. John does not, so he reveals his Balance of Power card. Scott then discards the Agent and places his Invasion of Czechoslovakia (Activity Value 3) face down on the Balance of Power track. Now John will place Socio-Economic tokens first, because the Balance of Power token is on the red 4. John places 1 token on his card and then Scott places 2 tokens on his card. John and Scott now reveal activities. Neither John nor Scott can counter activities because the counter values needed are currently on the cards in play. So now they measure the Balance of Power. John's Activity Value is 4 (card value 3 plus 1 token) and Scott's is 5 (card value 3 plus 2 tokens) so the Balance of Power token moves 1 space to the red 3. The Space Race is next. Both players reveal their cards. They are tied at 2, but because Scott has the Space Symbol he wins the tie and moves his Space Race token to Space 1 and receives a Socio-Economic token as a bonus. Each player receives 1 Socio-Economic token for the remaining Activity card in their hand. Because this is not the end of the fifth era and no one moved the Balance of Power token to a Mushroom Cloud space, the game continues.

Quick Reference

Turn Order

1. Draw Activity Cards
2. Play Cards
3. Agents
4. Socio-Economic Impact
5. Reveal Activities
6. Counter Activities
7. Measure Balance of Power
8. The Space Race
9. Socio-Economic Event
10. Check for Victory

The Space Race Bonus

• Space 1: When a Superpower reaches Space 1, they may immediately take one Socio-Economic token from the supply.
• Space 2: When a Superpower reaches Space 2, they may immediately shift the Balance of Power one space towards their favor.