Gorbachev: The Fall of Communism

In Gorbachev: The Fall of Communism, take on the role of an advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev, deal with various political crises, including the Soviet president's reversals, and try to maintain the integrity of the USSR and end the Cold War without suffering a coup during a chaotic period.

This fast-paced, fun and educational solitaire game uses a system created by Darin Leviloff. The "People" markers on five converging paths represent the political awakenings of the Russian people, the Baltic republics, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Communist Party itself. The paths all converge in Moscow, where the danger of a coup exists if any of these "People" markers reach there. In addition, three tracks representing the Soviet economy, media and culture have a considerable impact on the overall situation. A card draw determines which paths and tracks are moving against you this turn, and how many "Efforts" you gain that you can use to turn them back in your favor (if the Efforts die roll is successful). The presence of Gorbachev himself gives you extra Efforts - but he is often on vacation!

Effort management is the key to the game, and you never have as much as you want. You can get more by calling in the KGB or by playing your army in Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, as well as your nuclear missiles, into disarmament deals: a short-term strategy that can cost you victory points in the end. You may even abandon your Warsaw Pact allies to gain Western goodwill (and more effort) as the Cold War draws to a close. Your success in disarmament will depend on how the U.S. president perceives your policies, which makes the 1988 election -- George H.W. Bush versus Michael Dukakis -- important.

Every risky move is designed to avoid a military coup against you, which can end the game suddenly. Your success (or failure) in controlling the five channels of public opinion helps determine how many Politburo members are still on your side when a coup is engineered, so the better you play the game, the less likely the coup is to occur.