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 but tactical 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.
• A unique take on programmed actions as cards are sorted and locked before they are deployed into battle (played).
• Guaranteed to make you laugh! Player interaction is high and unexpected outcomes will lead to hilarious moments.

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 Units are deployed. Numbered Ground Unit cards (10-70) add to the value of your bid while Special Units 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 in the battle. 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 between players in unexpected ways.

GROUND UNITS & SPECIAL UNITS:

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

This cheaper and more accessible base version of Highest Bidder: World at War includes 8 unique Special Units. The Ultimate Warfare edition includes a bigger box with more cards (16 unique units) and other optional add-ons for a more strategic game – see further down for more information.

The base units are:

• 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 Units 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! Even when you lose a battle you will laugh at how it happened.

REAL LIFE NATIONS:

The Nation Cards you're fighting for control over represent 11 real life countries, including the US, China, India, Germany, the UK, Canada, and more. The point value of each country is based on the size of their real life military.

Should you save your units 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" (Double Points) 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 even after countless playthroughs. But because you are limited by the cards in your hand you will never feel overwhelmed by decisions and options.
• 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-breakingly 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 games' core mechanic of programmed actions. Chain reactions can occur and crucial battles can be decided by the very last card.

Big battles with many cards can bring nail-biting excitement and important decisions to make mid-battle.

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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.

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 Units: 8 new "advanced" Special Units with unique abilities, including satellites, high tech radar, drone strikes, submarines and a battleship. Mix & match the base cards and the new 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, Turkey and Iran.
• 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 Score Boards it becomes easier to see the scores of all players at a glance.
• Special Orders: Special Orders are unique abilities on your Score Board that you can use at any time, however only once per game. Simply remove a cube from your board and perform the action described. Examples include Reinforcement to draw extra cards and Final Push to deploy one last random card at the end of a close-call battle.
• Supply Tokens: As you win battles, claim 1 of 4 different types of Supply Tokens to aid in winning future battles. Examples include being dealt additional cards and deploying free units. The value of each type of token is gradually reduced each time its selected, leading to some important decisions early in the game.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

Visit the official website.