Cold War: CIA vs KGB

The young one is obsessed with every war, but the “cold” one confused him: where were the big battles? And, as if that were not enough, Sabaton have not written a song about it. In the end, Cold War: CIA vs KGB helped him grasp the subject more than Dad’s boring lectures on the way to the beach. And that, simple as it sounds, is a win.

On the table, the game uses the CIA-versus-KGB confrontation to give the Cold War a shape. Its basic function here is not to recreate major battles, but to make it clear that this was a different kind of conflict: a contest between two sides, without the obvious image of war a child expects.

I am not going to sell it as a deep or demanding simulation, because that is not what it is for. In play, it offers an accessible confrontation between the two sides and a reason to talk about the subject, without loading the younger player with the weight of a complex game. For a first step, that is entirely enough.

Yes, there are better games at the same level of difficulty, player count, and duration. But context matters. With children, we need neither coddle them nor throw them in at the deep end: if they come to love the hobby, there will be time for Squad Leader. You do not enter a gym after thirty years and immediately lift twenty kilos — brrr. Anything that builds basic skills for more complex games later is worthwhile, and this one offers some nice fun. And, if I remember correctly, there is also a Star Wars retheme, for anyone who finds the theme or the assassin problematic.