By Fabian Hamacher and Angie Teo
TAIPEI (Reuters) – A new board game set against the backdrop of the armed conflict over Taiwan is due for release in January 2025, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to take part in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now.
China has stepped up military activity near democratically-ruled Taiwan in recent years, including massing naval forces around the island this month.
The new game, titled “2045,” tasks players with navigating the tribulations of war using colorful action maps and role-playing characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
This includes members of the Taiwanese armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-Chinese politicians working to sabotage the island’s defenses, as well as citizens taking up arms to defend their homeland.
China claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan’s president and his government strongly oppose China’s claims to sovereignty and say only the people of the island can decide their future.
Taiwanese board game maker Mizo Games started crowdfunding the game in August. Within two and a half months, the company received more than T$4 million (US$121,966) in funding for the project.
“It is not very calm around the island of Taiwan and the western Pacific as we speak,” Chang Shao Lian, founder of Mizo Games, told Reuters from his office in Taipei.
Chang said he wants “players to feel that they want to win and think about what they’re going to do to win.”
The game, which is also due to go on sale in the US and Europe later this year, was developed as Taiwanese officials intensified preparations for scenarios including a conflict in China.
Last week, Taiwan’s presidential office held its first “tabletop” exercise involving government agencies outside the armed forces, simulating a military escalation with China.
The exercise involved scenarios, including the island being “on the brink of conflict”, to test the readiness of government offices and civil society.
Players who took part in the “2045” game test said they learned what might happen in the event of a Chinese invasion and hoped the game could help people understand the implications of war.
“I’m not very knowledgeable about military matters, so through this game I learned where the army can land and attack,” said Kalin Lai, a 23-year-old who tried the game.
Mizo previously created two other Taiwan War themed board games – one about surviving an air raid on Taipei and another about the bombing of Kaohsiung during the Japanese colonization of the island between 1895 and 1945 ($1=32.7960 Taiwan dollars)
