War or Peace: the first narrative campaign for It's a Wonderful World
Designed by Frédéric Guérard and illustrated by Anthony Wolff for La Boîte de Jeu and Origames, the War or Peace expansion introduces a replayable narrative campaign to the acclaimed drafting and engine-building board game It's a Wonderful World. Playable solo or with up to five participants, this box presents a 5-scenario storyline exploring rising geopolitical tensions between competing dystopian empires. Unlike conventional legacy systems, this heritage engine requires no card destruction, allowing players to reset the campaign endlessly to explore alternative outcomes. The expansion features:
- A 5-game interconnected campaign guided by six secret envelopes.
- A pivotal narrative branching point forcing empires to choose between all-out global warfare or fragile diplomatic peace.
- A secret reward box unlocking bonus gameboard components and fifteen new cards to add permanently to the core game.
Societal decisions, secret envelopes, and engine-building evolution
Gameplay enriches the core drafting loop with distinct scenario objectives and persistent tactical bonuses:
- Progressive envelope openings: Each scenario opens with a story leaflet that introduces temporary rules, construction constraints, and custom production goals.
- Persistent player rewards: At the end of every scenario, participants earn medals and technological upgrades based on their placement and in-game decisions.
- The diplomatic turning point: In Scenario 4, players cast collective votes to branch the story toward either the War or Peace envelope, reshaping the final scenario.
- Secret board expansion: Campaign progress unlocks a hidden box containing a modular board extension for the central playing area.
Campaign victory and permanent core game upgrades
Concluding the fifth scenario crowns the dominant empire while upgrading your standard game:
- Final campaign scoring: The player who tallies the highest cumulative victory points across the storyline and optimizes heritage bonuses wins the campaign.
- Permanent card integration: Once the narrative concludes, the fifteen discovered cards can be shuffled permanently into the base game deck to refresh future casual matches. War or Peace is an essential expansion for fans of It's a Wonderful World looking for an engaging storyline without sacrificing the smooth engine-building flow of the original game.
