Highest Bidder: World at War

World War III is raging and you must bring your nation to victory in a tactical battle for world domination. Over the course of 4 years (rounds) and 11 major battles (turns) you fight for control over real world nations. Highest Bidder: World at War is:

• A casual bidding card game for 2-4 players.
• For those who like games like Air, Land & Sea, Modern Art and Uno.
• Easy to learn but with surprising levels of strategy and decision-making.

HOW TO PLAY:

Each year of the war there are 3 nations presented at the center of the table, worth 1-7 Domination Points. Using Deployment Cards in your hand you must place secret bids to win battles over these territories.

Players sort the cards in their hands simultaneously to form battle plans, then announce "ready to battle". The dealer counts down: "3, 2, 1, Battle". On "battle", all players must play at least 1 card face down in individual Battle Stacks.

Next, cards are revealed one at a time around the table as Ground Units and Special Forces are deployed. Numbered Ground Unit cards (10-70) add to the value of your bid while Special Forces have text-based abilities that take effect when revealed. Choose your battles wisely, deploy units with strategic consideration, and combine cards in fun and clever ways.

When all cards have been revealed the player with the highest total value of their numbered Ground Units is declared victorious. The war continues with the remaining battles of the round using the remaining cards in your hand.

Once cards have been played you cannot change your battle plan. Hilarious situations and battle outcomes are guaranteed as cards begin to interact in unexpected ways.

GROUND UNITS & SPECIAL FORCES:

Numbered Ground Units that add to your bid value range from Squad (10) to Division (70). The text-based Special Forces cards have unique abilities.

Highest Bidder: World at War includes 8 unique Special Forces:

• Field Medic: Return your most recently revealed card to your hand, to reuse in a future battle.
• Air Strike: The next card revealed by an enemy is discarded.
• Tanks: Remove a Ground Unit previously deployed by an enemy.
• Radar: Draw a card from the draw pile to immediately deploy into battle.
• Spy Drone: Swap the top cards of any 2 Battle Stacks.
• Cargo Plane: Draw 2 cards to your hand.
• Nuclear: The nation you're fighting for is worth half points as it struggles from the aftermath of nuclear warfare.
• Natural Resources: The nation you're fighting for is worth double points as it's rich in natural resources.

Programmed Actions: Combining Special Forces in clever ways — and deploying them at the right time — is key to victory. The game has loads of replay value as you will constantly find yourself in new and unique situations — lots of laughs are guaranteed as your carefully crafted battle plans work out beautifully or are completely shot to pieces by enemy forces!

REAL LIFE NATIONS:

The Nation Cards you're fighting for control over represent 11 real life countries, including the US, China, India, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Canada, and more.

Should you save your forces to go for a more valuable nation, or should you spread out your cards to try to win multiple battles?

THE FINAL YEAR:

During the last year of the war there are only 2 Nation Cards to fight over, worth double points. This keeps the game exciting to the very end as even players who are far behind have a theoretical chance of winning, especially if there's also a "Natural Resources" card in play.

After 4 years and 11 historic battles, the player with the most Domination Points is declared the winner of Highest Bidder: World at War.

GREAT REPLAY VALUE:

• Endless ways to combine cards. Unique game situations consistently present themselves, causing you to think things like "should I play this card before that one, or maybe this one, or what if..." and "if only I had done this instead, I would have won!"
• Deep tactical decisions. It's not about what cards you're holding, it's about when you choose to deploy them. There are no "bad" or "game-breaking good" cards. The outcome of a battle depends more on the decisions you and your enemies make, and how those decisions influence each other. And you won't know if you made the right choices until the battle is over!
• Consistently hilarious outcomes. You are guaranteed to laugh out loud at least once per game as unexpected and unforeseen outcomes happen through the game's core mechanic of programmed actions. Did your enemy swap a card with you only to receive a second swap card from you, then receive a Radar ("Random Card") from that second swap, and finally draw a Nuclear (Half Points) as a result of the Radar? (Hilariously cutting their score in half even if they won the battle.) Or did your enemy think they'd win because you only had a Squad (10 Ground Unit), only to be completely obliterated by a series of Tanks ("Remove Unit") you deployed at the end of the battle – causing you to win with only a 10!

Even when you lose a battle, you'll laugh at how it happened.

ProtoATL CONTEST:

Highest Bidder: World at War was designed for the ProtoATL contest hosted here on The Game Crafter. Due to COVID-19 and the temporary closure of The Game Crafter, it has not been possible to get a final prototype on time. Instead, the game has been heavily play tested using homemade cards and in Tabletop Simulator (not currently available).

The result is a game that is fun and exciting to play, is easy to teach but hard to master, and has lots of replay value thanks to the many unique situations and card combinations that can (and will!) arise.

RELEASE:

The game is ready, a proof copy has been ordered, and it has been submitted to the ProtoATL contest — but it will not be available to buy until the proof copy has been received, to ensure all cards appear correctly in print.

Bookmark this page and revisit it in the coming weeks.

VIDEO:

Because of the lack of a professionally printed prototype it has not been possible to film a proper video. Instead, this introduction video has been created using images from the game:

ULTIMATE WARFARE EDITION:

Highest Bidder: World at War is a fun and exciting game as the core game play is varied and offers plenty of strategies and tactical decisions. But for a bigger experience, check out the Ultimate Warfare edition.

Though the game was created for the ProtoATL contest it became both too overwhelming for new players and too expensive for the contest. The Ultimate Warfare edition includes the base game, plus the entirely optional bonus components listed below. When playing the game for the first time, it's recommended that the optional additions are removed in order to learn the base game first.

The Ultimate Warfare edition adds the following (optional) components to the base game:

• More Special Forces: 8 new "advanced" Special Forces with unique abilities, including satellites, high tech radar, drone strikes, submarines and a battleship. Mix & match the base cards and advanced cards to create a deck that best suits your group of players.
• 3 New Nations: The war is extended from 4 to 5 years with 3 new Nation Cards: Egypt, Iran and Turkey.
• Nation Boards (score boards): Score keeping is easy in the base game as you keep the Nation Cards you win in front of you, but with the individual Nation Boards it becomes easier to see the scores of all players at a glance.
• Special Orders: Issue Special Orders including Extract and Final Push, for unique advantages. Orders can be issued at any time in the game, however only once each.
• Supply Tokens: As you win battles, claim 1 of 4 different types of Supply Tokens to aid in winning not just future battles, but the entire war. Examples include being dealt additional cards and deploying free units.
• Tactical Warfare Handbook (booklet): A printed strategy guide that covers all base cards and the new "advanced" Special Forces in the Ultimate Warfare edition. This strategy guide will also be available to download for free (under construction).

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

Visit the official website.

Are you ready for world domination? A world of tactical warfare awaits you.