The Influence Game – Offside from Dave Boundy

Jim brought along a board game to test. Apparently, it is near to release and we were asked to test it for inconsistencies, typos, spelling mistakes and anything that didn’t make sense. We were asked to play the game as if we had just bought it, which essentially meant that Jim would give no help, instruction or comment. A silent Jim resembled a pot about to boil over, but he managed to contain himself.

We started with 3 players and finished with 6 by the time several people arrived for the session. The game was intended to give insight into the way that national influence works and was based on an incident in 2021 where HMS Defender went through disputed waters near Taiwan. The premise was that China and the UK would then engage in an information and military activity game to capture the emerging narrative and end winning a higher influence share.

The game worked as a game. It was meant to take 30-45 minutes, but took about an hour. Each phase allowed each team to use influence points to buy narrative cards and then, through a dice game based on those cards, to move an influence track. After the 3 phases, the intention is to use the narrative to discuss how influence works. The target audience is serving personnel – I assume lower rank officers.

Jim hoped that we would tear the game apart in order to find problem areas in the game presentation: I think CLWG could always help with a task like that, although the enthusiasm of some members might have gone a little further than Jim hoped (I’m looking at you, Evan – I don’t think the task involved a complete game rewrite!).

My reaction to the game was mixed. I enjoyed creating a narrative and I think the package made for a playable game. As an educational tool (its stated objective), I think it was limited. It was over-simplistic and relied on discussion after the game finished to achieve its aim. As I said when we had finished “it was better than Monopoly”.