Summary
Manystrategy gamesthat aim to be somewhat realistic will choose periods of history that are remembered for global conflicts, such as World War 1 and 2. However, what these earlier settings lack is something that hangs like Damocles' sword over humanity in modern times; nuclear weapons. The Cold War covers a period of time between 1947 to 1991. During this time, various nations, most notably the USA and Soviet Union were manufacturing and stockpiling large amounts of nuclear weapons.
However, towards the end of the Cold War, these stockpiles had been reduced somewhat, due to certain political agreements. The question remains, though, what would have happened had even a minor nuclear conflict taken place during the Cold War? This is something that a number of excellent strategy games have attempted to demonstrate. Some of these aim torealistically simulatea Cold War conflict; others simply use the political backdrop of the time for the setting for some fun gameplay.
Let The Nukes Fly
DEFCON
Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare.You play a General hidden deep within an underground bunker. Your mission is to successfully exterminate your enemy’s civilian population whilst saving your own. Points are awarded or lost depending on both the efficacy and thoroughness of your nuclear vendetta and the number of your own civilian deaths. to win you must wipe out the enemy population and simultaneously disable the enemy’s ability to retaliate against you. This is an extremely difficult task since launching an attack on the enemy exposes the positions of your own Ground Silos, Subs and Bombers the moment they launch nuclear weapons, making you extremely vulnerable and exposed to a crushing counter-attack.Desperate attempts must be made to form fast, tactical alliances, alliances that may at any moment break-down to become the treacherous and most deadly of betrayals. Everyone looks to each other in a state of nervous suspense and paranoid accusation. In all-out nuclear Armageddon, everybody dies, everybody loses, you just have to ensure you lose the least!
In its day,DEFCONwas something of a cult game with a huge following. Simple in design and execution, but with surprising depth, the game revolves around, well, nuking enemy countries whilst trying not to let them nuke your own. There can be no doubt thatDEFCONtakes inspiration from the classic movie,Wargames.
The player takes control of one of the superpowers and must decide how best to defend against anuclear attack, whilst maximizing the damage their own nuclear weapons inflict on enemies. Post-strike, the player must find a strategy for dealing with the aftermath of the nuclear exchange as well.
Deal With A Soviet Invasion Of The USA
World in Conflict
War is coming home. On August 03, 2025, the Cold War was supposed to end. It didn’t. The landmarks, cities and heartland of America are now the battlefields of World War III. Lead the heroic effort to turn back the Soviet invasion and reclaim the homeland - one neighborhood at a time.Chillingly plausible single-player campaign with frontlines based on real-life towns, suburbs, and cities in America, Europe, and the USSR.Command four different battlefield roles - Air, Armor, Infantry, andf Support - in the ultimate online team-based multiplayer experience.Level an entire battlefield with powerful artillery barrages, scorching napalm strikes, and devastating tactical nukes.
Set in the latter part of the Cold War,World In Conflictis areal-time simulationgame that combines frantic combat with an excellent campaign. Visually, the game is impressive, and the narrative is compelling and realistic, driving the campaign forward at a hectic pace at times.
The player controls a full range of realistic military units and needs to employ real-world-style battlefield tactics to have the best chance of success. At times, the game feels like an interactive movie, as the conflict escalates and the impending conflict becomes a real and present danger.
4Command: Modern Operations
Incredibly Detailed And Complex
AlthoughCommand: Modern Operationsis, at heart, a real-time strategy game, it is far more than that. As RTS games go, it is one of the most complex of all. The game aims to realistically simulate military conflicts, including scenarios that take place during the Cold War.
The player commands ground, air, and naval units to achieve their strategic goals. Realistic military intelligence is received, and the player must first understand what it means, and then use this intelligence to make tactical decisions. The game can simulate Cold War confrontations very accurately.Command: Modern Operationsmight not be for everybody. It has a very steep learning curve. Yet it remains one of the most comprehensive military simulators that covers the Cold War.
3Power & Revolution 2021 Edition
Focuses On Geopolitical Gameplay
Power & Revolutionis a different kind of strategy game. Where most strategy games focus on conflict and combat,Power & Revolutionis a little more unique. At its heart, it is aglobal political simulator. The game includes a number of scenarios, including many that cover certain events during the Cold War.
Players wield political tools, as well as espionage and trade to meet challenges. In most cases, military action is a last resort, although some scenarios do call for major military action. Overall, this is a slower-paced, but still deep and engaging strategy game that covers the Cold War period, and also includes many other scenarios.
2Nuclear War Simulator
Simulating Cold War Nuclear Brinkmanship
Nuclear War Simulatoris a game that covers not only the Cold War but also more modern nuclear conflict scenarios. However, even the scenarios set after the Cold War refer back to the geopolitical situation of the time.
The game is simple to play but hard to master. The player is free to play out a simulated nuclear war in real time. They must plan how best to attack their enemies and also manage the effects of soaking up a retaliatory strike. Overall, the game does an amazing job of demonstrating how catastrophic even the most limited nuclear exchange would be.
Classic RTS Gameplay
Command and Conquer: Red Alert
Surrender is not an option.Command & Conquer Red Alert gives you the opporiunily in be more devious, cunning and ruthless than ever before. Easy is play and highly addictive, Red Alert puts the fate of the world in your hands.• Take your fight over land, sea and air with MiGS, spies, destroyers, submarines and more.• choose your weapons. Defend your base with lesla Coils, AA guns, camouilaged pill boxes and guard dogs. Surprise the enemy with the Iron Curtain, the Chronosphere, the Gap Generator and an arsenal of powerful weapons.• Two sides to choose from. Over two dozen Allied and Soviet missions on two action-packed CDs. Lend one to a friend.• Use the mouse for the PlayStation game console or the original gamepad with Red Alert’s new PlayStation game console interface.• Award-winning soundtrack. 21 adrenaline-pumping XA tracks recorded in digital audio for awesome stereo sound.
No list of games set in the Cold War era would be complete without the classic real-time strategy game,Command & Conquer: Red Alert.The game sets the Soviet Union squarely against the Allied Forces, in a single-player campaign that is both shocking and somehow funny at the same time.
There is nothing very complicated aboutCommand & Conquer: Red Alert. It harks back to a time when strategy games were simpler, and RTS developers were yet to begin incorporating gameplay features from other genres. However, the game takes the top place on this list for a specific reason; it is just so much fun to play. For a while, the game was unavailable, but it was reintroduced for sale some years back. There is also anopen-sourceproject, OpenRA, that has recreated the gameplay of the original release completely.
