BOARD GAME AND METHOD OF PLAYING

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a perfection of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/568,168, filed on Oct. 4, 2017, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to board games, strategy games and/or card games. It is a game designed to simulate the steps countries need to take for preventing (or causing) a nuclear conflict. It is to be made and sold under the trademark: 5 Minutes To Midnight™, or 5MtoM, for short. The rules call for both a basic, or “Quick Play” version and a more detailed, intensive/extended or “Advanced Play” version.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary purpose of the invention to involve multiple players in a card-driven game. 5MtoM, is a resource management game where players have to gather the materials to build nuclear weapons, amassing as many as possible while maintaining relationships with their allies, neutralities, and enemies, staving off nuclear attacks from the aforementioned, and completing their randomly chosen objectives. Players will have to make deals and deceive others to achieve their goals, bluffing their way into partnerships, making friends of enemies and vice versa, plot and plan out their every move while keeping everyone else in the dark as they vie for world domination before the Doom Counter or “Doomsday Clock” reaches BOOM! (Midnight)

It is another purpose of this invention for keeping players in the “mix” of still winning the game, even after their country has been turned into a Wasteland (per the directions below).

This purpose is met, at least in part, by providing the game board, country card and playing cards shown in the accompanying photographs AND by following the game rules described in greater detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS/DRAWINGS

The objects, advantages and features of this invention will be more readily appreciated from following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying photographs and drawings in which:

FIG. 1A shows the top cover to the box for one embodiment of the playing game;

FIG. 1B shows the box bottom;

FIG. 2A shows a top view of the game board country map with cardholders indicated and the Doom Counter along the lower left side;

FIG. 2B shows a first alternative game board with fictional (rather than real) countries on a hexagonal grid for player tile placements thereon;

FIG. 3A shows the front (left side) and rear (right side) for one representative player card, in this case Australia (left side) and its Wasteland equivalent (right side) with the detailed player information therefor;

FIGS. 3B1 and 3B2 shows the fronts to 16 representative country cards for use with the game as described below;

FIGS. 3C1 and 3C2 show the rear sides to the 16 country cards of FIGS. 3B1 and 3B2 if/when those countries get made into their respective Wastelands;

FIG. 4 shows 10 representative Objective cards for use with the game described below;

FIG. 5 shows 10 representative Conspiracy-Political cards for use with the game described below; and

FIG. 6 shows 10 representative Resource cards for use with the game.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

What follows are the Rules, Instructions, etc. for the Advanced Play version of this board game. For QuickPlay, see the underlined, italics suggestions for shortening game play time. It is intended for 3-7 players, ages 12 and up! Suggested playtime is roughly 60-90 minutes.

Introduction

5 Minutes to Midnight™ is a geopolitical tabletop game about deals, deception, and dropping nukes . . . curiously not dissimilar to real life.

The world is in chaos. Stock markets have crashed. The global currency, the “Swindl” is hyper-inflating, natural resources like radioactive Nukonium are dwindling, and all the old political alliances have fractured apart. The governments left standing are locked in a global cold war. The arms race to see who can stockpile the most nuclear warheads while feebly holding onto their sovereignty . . . is ON.

Objectives

Players take turns mining resources, negotiating with other countries, or launching nuclear warheads. Players earn points by completing objectives specified by their “Objective Cards,” The player with the most points when the world ends, wins!

Game Contents

• Game Board (1)
• Doomsday Clock Hand & Connector (1)
• Nation Cards (16)
• Nation/Warhead Tokens (112, 7 per player)
• −1/Strike Tokens (112, 7 per player)
• Treaty Tokens (112, 7 per player)
• Objective Cards
• Action Cards
• Resource Cards
• Doomsday Dossier (1)
• Doomsday Deck (6, 2 of each type)
• Wasteland Objective Cards (8, 1 per player with I extra)
• 2 minute Negotiation Clock (1)
• Warhead Miniatures (49, 7 per player)
• Infantry Miniatures (42, 6 per player)
• Tank Miniatures (21, 3 per player)
• Warship Miniatures (7, 1 per player)
• Optional Airship Miniatures (12, 2 per player)

Initial Set-Up

1. Place the Game Board in the center of the playing area. Gather one of each Nation Token & scramble them facedown or put them into the box top. Each player chooses two Nation Tokens at random, and picks one country from those two to play for the game. Players may consult the Nation Cards to compare stats.

2. Assemble the Doomsday Clock and set it to “11:45.”

3. Distribute a “Wasteland Objectives Card” to every player.

4. Each Player should gather her country's GDP resources as indicated on the Nation Card. Players place their Nation Token on their starting “Will of the People”, and a Warhead Token on their starting silo, rocket side up (if applicable). Once every player has their GDP resources, add the “Military Deployment” resource cards equal to the number of players plus one into the Resource Deck. Shuffle the Resource Deck and place it on the designated spot on the game board.

5. Shuffle the. Red Doomsday Cards and place them in the Doomsday Dossier. Place the Doomsday Dossier next to the Doomsday Clock.

6. Shuffle the Objective Cards well, and deal 4 to each player. Remember to keep your Objectives hidden from other players! Place the remaining Objective Card deck on the designated spot on the game board.

7. Each player draws 2 Action Cards from the Action Deck (discard and replace any “PLAY NOW” cards you receive by drawing again until you have 2 Action Cards that do not say “PLAY NOW”). After each player has their starting Action Cards, shuffle the Action Deck & place it on the designated spot on the game board.

8. Place the Negotiation Clock on its designated spot on the game board. You are now ready to play 5 Minutes to Midnight™

Begin the Game

5 Minutes to Midnight™ is played in rounds. A round is comprised of two phases: the player phase and the Warhead phase, A round is complete when both phases have concluded. The player with the most Nuclear Warheads in their GDP goes first. In the event there is more than one nation-player with the same number of nukes, the player with the most Swindl goes first. If there is still a tie, the older of the tied players goes first. If both players are exactly the same age born at exactly the same time, write in to us. We don't believe you. Play continues clockwise for the duration of the game, unless a card's instructions specify otherwise.

Playing the Game

Player Phase: Each player takes a turn that is comprised of two actions. Players may not skip an action unless otherwise directed to do so by a card's instruction. During their turn, a player may do any 2 of the following actions: Draw, Play, Attempt Diplomacy, Build, or Proliferate.

Draw

• Draw from any of the available card decks (Objective, Action, Resource). Players may use one or both turn actions to draw cards from any deck, but REMEMBER: Draw cards one at a time—some cards may interrupt your turn. It is important to act in sequence. If player draws an Action Card that says “PLAY NOW”, they must play that card and follow its instructions before drawing a second card. PLAY NOW cards are played as part of the “draw” turn action. The Doomsday Deck is not available to be drawn from until the Doomsday Clock strikes 7 (“5 Minutes to Midnight™”).
  There are two rare Action Cards:
  • ASSASSINATION—Pick a player, they must sacrifice two Will (−2). If they don't have at least 2 Will, they automatically become a Wasteland.
  • BLIGHT—When played, the player chooses another player to automatically turn into a Wasteland; there is no defense against this action.

On Objective Cards . . .

• • Players may use one or both turn actions to discard any undesirable objective cards, but they must immediately draw two new objective cards for every one they discard.
  • Unless otherwise specified, a player cannot complete a trade objective over multiple turns. The required trade must happen in full at one time.
  • You may have more than one Objective Card with the same conditions. Duplicate Objective Cards cannot be satisfied in the same turn.
    • If a player has two of the same objective card in their hand, they may not satisfy the conditions once and claim both objectives as complete. They must complete them separately.
  • Unless otherwise specified, Objective Cards cannot be satisfied through deception, e.g.: to satisfy an objective, you must trade 2 Nukonium. You may not secretly pass 2 Swindl—you must honor the card's terms.
    • All terms on the card must be satisfied for the objective to be considered complete.
  • Unless otherwise specified, Objective Cards may be played the moment they are completed.
    • A player does not need to wait for her turn to reveal an objective if completed during another player's turn or the Warhead phase. This is a free action.

Play

• • Play Action/Resource Cards—Players may use one or both turns to play Action or Resource Cards. Players may not play the same type of card on the same player in the same turn.
  • E.g.: A player may play an action card on France as one turn action, and an Action Card on Japan as another turn action, but she may NOT play two action cards on France in the same turn.

You can perform the same action more than once per turn, but you cannot perform the same action to the same player more than once per turn (ex: if you play an action card against China, you cannot play another action card against China in the same turn. You may perform any other action with China in the same turn, however).

• Play Military Invasion/Mining—Players may use one or both turns to play Military Invasion miniatures. Military Invasion Minis can help you increase resource production while stymieing the resource production of other players. if a player's military mini is in another player's nation, that player may mine his target nation for resources once per turn as a free action (excluding the turn where the military mini was placed). He may also choose to use one or both of his turn actions to further mine his target nation for additional resources.
  • There are three types of Military Invasion Minis: Infantry, Tank, and Warship (with an optional fourth mini—for Airships, in the near future).
    • Infantry minis may move only one adjacent space from their nation's borders, even if just a sliver of their nation's border occupies a space. Infantry minis start on any silo icon in their nation.
    • Tank miniatures may move up to four spaces from their home nation, but they may not cross water, even if two nation's borders are separated by water in the same space on the board, unless the land connects in the grid space. Tank miniatures move one space per turn action. Tank minis start on any silo icon in their nation.
    • Warship miniatures have no restriction on how far they can move from their home nation, but they can only make port on the coast—any space that has both water and a nation's border. Warship tokens start on any coastal space in their nation. If a nation's borders do not share a space with water, that nation may not deploy warships. They may still build them for trade. Warship miniatures may move up to two spaces per turn action.
  • To Mine:
    • The invading player flips a “Strike Token.”
    • If it lands “strike” side up, the invading player draws resources from the resource deck equal to the “Natural Resource” number on his target nation's Nation Card.
    • If it lands “−1” side up, the invading player immediately recalls all military minis on that target nation back to his own nation, even if they are not in the same space. Military minis in other nations may stay, but if the failed-flip target nation's borders are in that space at all, those minis must be withdrawn as well.

As long as another player's Military mini is in a player's nation, the occupied nation may not draw resources, even if they are not the intended occupants (such as in the example of shared borders, or a player “passing through” a nation's borders on the way to another nation). Occupied nations may still acquire resources through Diplomacy or Action Cards. If a player's military mini is in a. space that shares their own borders with another nation, they may still draw from the resource deck, whereas the nation sharing their borders in that space may not.

You can multiply your gains by having multiple military minis in the same target nation, even if they're not in the same space! A successful coin toss multiplies your resource gain by the number of military minis in your target nation! But be careful . . . an unsuccessful coin toss, and all your military minis in that nation go back home!

• • Military Invasion Minis can be built at any time, but only deployed if a player holds the Military Invasion Resource Card and meets the required deployment conditions.
  • Deploying each Military mini costs one turn action.
  • Moving Military minis costs one turn action, but a player may move as many or as few deployed military minis as they like.
    • You may not “share” movements—if you choose not to move a mini, her movement is NOT given to another mini.
  • Recalling the military minis costs one turn action, but a player may recall as many or as few military minis as they like. Recalled minis may return to any silo space (or in the warship's case, any port).

Attempt Diplomacy

Attempt Diplomacy

There are three types of negotiation: Trade, Alliance, & Defense Treaty. Players may use one or both turn actions to attempt Diplomacy with another player. The player asks their diplomat: “[Nation], are you amenable to a/an [type of negotiation]?” The diplomat may say yes or no. If they say no, that turn action is done. As soon as a player asks to negotiate, before they are told yes or no, a non-involved party starts the Negotiation Timer (120 seconds). A diplomatic negotiation may now commence.

Players may NOT hold multiple of the same type of Diplomatic Negotiation with the same player in the same turn, though they may hold multiple negotiations with the same player in the same turn. If a player attempts a Diplomatic Negotiation and is denied, they may attempt to open another Diplomatic Negotiation with the same player, but that would use both their turn actions, even if denied twice.

• • If a player is denied the opportunity to negotiate, another player who was not the original player asked may express their willingness to entertain the player's offer. This remains part of the original player's turn action (i.e. if they asked on their first turn, this second chance negotiation is part of their first turn action).
    • If multiple players express this willingness, the player whose turn it is decides with whom to open negotiations, but the negotiation clock is not restarted.
    • Follow the normal rules for negotiation.
    • If a deal is not reached or the negotiation clock expires, advance the Doomsday Clock by 1.
  • Trade
  • Players can trade any combination of their Resource Cards, military tokens, promises for future favor, and/or ONE (1) Warhead from their Stockpile. Players may not trade Objectives or Action Cards.
    • The player who initiated the negotiation makes their ask.
    • The player who accepted the negotiation may accept, decline, or counter-offer.
    • The player who initiated the negotiation may accept the counter-offer, decline, double down on their initial offer, or make a counter-offer.
    • This process repeats until terms are agreed to, both parties agree the negotiation is dead, or the Negotiation Timer expires. Both players must verbally state “I accept/decline these terms” before the Negotiation Timer expires.
    • When terms are agreed to, both players must shake hands openly then pass any resources or cards face down to one another.
      • If the parties agree IMMEDIATELY at or after the timer expires, they may still proceed with the trade, but both parties MUST trade honestly—they may not deceive. These trades are done face up to the rest of the table.
        Players do not have to be honest about what resources they pass or which promises they keep, but Warheads must be given as promised.
    • Any successful trade with an Allied country gains the Ally +1 Will. If both countries are Allies, they both gain +1 Will, unless otherwise specified on their Nation Card.
    • Any successful trade with a Rival country costs the player −1 Will. If both countries are Rivals, they both lose −1 Will, unless otherwise specified on their Nation Card.
    • Players may spend both turn actions performing trade negotiations, but not with the same player.

A common trade deception is to shake hands on a trade, and then pass a different resource! Remember: Action Cards cannot be traded, but you can negotiate for another player to use an Action Card on your behalf!

• • Create an Alliance
  • Unlike the free action alliance shifts to rival or unaligned, in order to create an Ally relationship, both parties must agree and shake hands in a Diplomatic Negotiation.
    • During a Diplomatic Negotiation, a player may ask another player to become allies. They may ask with no stipulations, or offer a trade, at the player's discretion.
    • The other player may accept, decline, or counter-offer.
    • The initiating player may accept, decline, counter-offer, or stand by their initial offer.
    • This process repeats until terms are agreed to, both parties agree the negotiation is dead, or the Negotiation Timer expires. Both players must verbally state “I accept/decline these terms” before the Negotiation Timer expires.
    • When terms are agreed to, both players must openly shake hands after the verbal declaration.
    • After hands have been shaken, both countries must move their respective Nation Tokens to the “ALLY” column on their Nation Card.
      • If the parties agree IMMEDIATELY at or after the timer expires, the alliance is still successful, but every current (not necessarily starting) “Rival” on both players nation cards gains +1 Will. If both players have the same country as a Rival, the Rival gains +2 Will.
    • If a deal is not reached and/or the negotiation is not officially closed by the time the Negotiation Timer expires, both parties to the negotiation must discard a completed objective with the lowest point value, and draw a new objective card. If they have no completed objectives, they must still draw a new objective card and put it into their hand.
      FOR QUICKPLAY: FAILED attempts to form an ALLY Relationship advances the Doomsday Clock by 1.
  • Defense Treaty
  • During a Diplomatic Negotiation, a player may ask another player, for the present or future assistance to Counterstrike on their behalf.
    • They may ask with no stipulations, or offer a trade, at the player's discretion.
    • The other player may accept, decline, or counter-offer.
    • The initiating player may accept, decline, counter-offer, or stand by their initial offer.
    • This process repeats until terms are agreed to, both parties agree the negotiation is dead, or the Negotiation Timer expires. Both players must verbally state “I accept/decline these terms” before the Negotiation Timer expires.
    • When terms are agreed to, both players must openly shake hands after the verbal declaration.
    • The asking Nation hands the Hero Nation one of their Treaty Tokens, to keep track of the Treaty.
      • If the Hero Nation accepts the Treaty, they must follow all the rules of Counterstrike (see “Counterstrike” section below).
      • As a reward for good diplomacy, after they launch the Counterstrike when called upon, the Hero Nation gains +1 Will, even if the Counterstrike is not successful.
        • If they decide to break the treaty and not launch the Counterstrike, or if they reprogram it after launch, they do not gain any Will, but there is no penalty, apart from the damaged diplomatic relations with the other player.
      • If the parties agree IMMEDIATELY at or after the timer expires, the Hero Nation must flip a nation token. If it lands flag side up, they may proceed with the treaty and either launch or not launch when called upon at their discretion. If it lands warhead side up, one of their warheads in their silo immediately blows up, destroying the silo. Place a “strike” token on the silo space. They may still honor or dishonor the treaty at their discretion.
        • If a deal is not reached and/or the negotiation is not officially closed by the time the Negotiation Timer expires, both parties to the negotiation must discard a completed objective with the lowest point value, and draw a new objective card. If they have no completed objectives, they must still draw a new Objective card and put it into their hand.
    • Emergency Treaty
    • Sometimes a player has a warhead launched at them after their turn in the round, and it will become a successful strike against them before their next turn. In this case, a defending player may ask for an EMERGENCY TREATY for the assistance of another player to Counterstrike on their behalf.
      • An Emergency Treaty may only be requested at the conclusion of the turn of the player who launched the warhead that will strike before the defender's next turn.
      • When the defending player declares their need for an EMERGENCY TREATY, they start the Negotiation Timer, then discard one Resource Card (as a tax for going out of turn).
      • Only after they have paid the tax, they can ask other players if they are willing to enter into a Treaty with them.
        • If the defending player does not have any Resource Cards, they may not ask for an Emergency Treaty.
        • A defending player may address one, several, or all players at the same time.
        • They may ask with no stipulations, or offer a trade, at the player's discretion.
        • The other player may accept, decline, or counter-offer. If multiple players are willing to accept, even if they were not originally included in the Emergency Treaty, a mass negotiation may take place.
        • The initiating player may accept, decline, counter-offer, or by their initial offer.
        • This process repeats until terms are agreed to, all parties agree the negotiation is dead, or the Negotiation Timer expires. Both parties must verbally state “I accept/decline these terms” before the Negotiation Timer expires.
        • When terms are agreed to, both players must openly shake hands after the verbal declaration.
      • If the parties agree IMMEDIATELY at or after the timer expires, the Hero Nation must flip a nation token. If it lands flag side up, they may proceed with the treaty and either launch or not launch when called upon at their discretion. If it lands warhead side up, one of their warheads in their silo immediately blows up, destroying the silo. Place a “strike” token on the silo space. They may still honor or dishonor the treaty at their discretion.
        • If a deal is not reached and/or the negotiation is not officially closed by the time the Negotiation Timer expires, both parties to the negotiation must discard a completed objective with the lowest point value, and draw a new objective card. If they have no completed objectives, they must still draw a new objective card and put it into their hand.

If a defending nation forgets or declines to ask for an Emergency Treaty, they may not ask out of turn again until another warhead is launched at them. If they ask for an Emergency Treaty before starting the negotiation timer, they must pay the Resource Card tax, but they lose a turn and do not get to ask for an Emergency Treaty.

In all types of Diplomatic Negotiation, once the parties have agreed on the terms, the deal must be sealed with a public handshake before the terms are executed.

• • If the public handshake is forgotten or ignored and another player calls it out, there are several penalties for the negotiating parties:
    • the negotiating parties cancel the terms of their negotiation
    • if an alliance shift was part of the negotiation, the shift does not take place
    • if a warhead was to be exchanged in the negotiation, both players have a silo explosion and lose 1 silo for the duration of the game.
    • if cards were being exchanged or had been exchanged, they are instead shown face up and discarded
      • if a player had deceived in a negotiation and had promised cards they did not have in their hand, they discard an extra resource card
    • both players remove their lowest value completed objective as “failed”
      • if a player does not have a completed objective, they must draw a new objective card and put it into their hand.

If a deal is not reached and/or the negotiation is not officially closed by the time the Negotiation Timer expires, both parties to the negotiation must discard a completed objective with the lowest point value, and draw a new objective card. If they have no completed objectives, they must still draw a new objective card and put it into their hand.

• • This penalty is in addition to any “negotiation specific” penalties as outlined above.

There is no rule requiring players to honor the agreed upon terms. Players may be honest, deceptive, or non-participatory at their discretion. The only exceptions are the creation of an alliance and the transfer of Warheads.

Influencing a Negotiation

The other players NOT involved in a Diplomatic Negotiation are permitted to try and influence a negotiation through “table talk” such as calling other players liars, claiming that a player is close to satisfying a big objective, etc. However, as they are not in the negotiation, they CANNOT make offers, counter-offers, or promises.

• • If a player is in violation of this rule, he must remain quiet for the duration of that negotiation.
    • If the player who initiated the negotiation opens a second negotiation on the same turn, the player who previously had to remain quiet is free to try and influence the new negotiation unless they violate the Influencing a Negotiation rules.
  • If a player who has been muted continues speaking during the negotiation, the player who started the negotiation can pick a random Objective Card from their hand and force them to remove it as Failed, meaning that it can no longer be completed and its point value will be subtracted from their final score at the end of the game.
    • If the interrupting player had no Objective Cards in their hand, they lose a turn, and −1 Will of the People.

Players are encouraged to banter, make deals, work in tandem, lie, backstab, or employ subterfuge and misdirection throughout gameplay. Just remember, there can only be one “Last Nation Standing” so play smart.

Build

• Building a Military—Players may use one or both turn actions to build as many military minis as they have resources for. The cost for each military faction is on the player's nation card. Players may not build a military in excess of the available minis (maximum six Infantry, three Tanks, one Warship at one time). Optionally, one or more Airship minis may be added to this mix near term.

If you have reached the maximum number of minis allowed, players may still acquire additional Military resources (of any faction) through trade, but they will not be able to build more (a reserve) if their total number of minis meets or exceeds the maximum.

• • Building a Nuclear Warhead—Players may use one or both turn actions to build as many warheads as they have resources for. They may only do this if they have the minimum Will of the People requirement specified in the nuclear program dossier on their Nation Card. Players do not lose Will for building warheads, but they must discard their resources.
    • Players cannot build a warhead by discarding partial resource requirements on one turn, and the remainder on another. All required resources must be discarded in the same turn to build a Nuclear Warhead.

Pro tip—when discarding resources, mix up the Swindl™ & Nukonium™ to make it easier to reshuffle the deck!

PROLIFERATE

• Launch a Nuclear Warhead—Players may use one turn action to launch a warhead, They may do this as long as they have warheads in their silo. They do not have to discard resources to launch a warhead unless otherwise specified by a card or “Nation Special.” This ends their turn for the round, even if they have remaining turn actions. To launch a warhead, a player declares her target, then takes one of her nation's warhead minis and places it on any silo icon within their nation. The launching player takes one of her declared target's nation flag tokens and places it in the groove, flag side out. If the player is launching a Counterstrike, the target will be another player's Warhead already in the air, Every time a warhead is launched, advance the Doomsday Clock by one minute (See: Nuclear Warheads & Counterstrikes section below).
• Reprogram a Nuclear Warhead—Players may use one or both turn actions to reprogram one of their live warheads. They may only reprogram their warhead, unless otherwise specified by a card or “Nation Special.”
  • To reprogram a warhead, a player declares that they are using a turn action to reprogram one of their warheads.
  • She declares which nation or other warhead is her new target
  • She replaces the original target token on her warhead mini to the new target token—flag side out if she is targeting a nation, missile side out if she is targeting a warhead.
    • Remember to use a warhead target token from the correct nation so you and others can easily identify which nation's warhead your own warhead is targeting.
  • There is no limit to the amount of times a warhead can be reprogrammed, but you can only reprogram one warhead per turn.
    • Unless it is intercepted or otherwise specified by a card or “Nation Special”, a warhead will always hit it's programmed target.

If you are targeting a specific nation's warhead, you may strike any of their live warheads with that nation's warhead token on top, even one that was launched after yours!

Free Actions in Player Phase:

Completed Objectives

At any point during player phase or warhead phase, a player may place completed Objective Cards face up, even if the terms to satisfy the objective happened on someone else's turn. If another player challenges the Objective and the majority of players agree the objective was not properly satisfied, the Objective is discarded, and two new Objective Cards are drawn.

• • Any player may play a completed objective any time during player phase, even if it is not their turn, as long as all the terms have been satisfied.

Declare an Alliance Shift

At any point during her turn, a player may change an allied nation to an unallied or rival nation, change an unallied nation to a rival nation, or change a rival nation to an unallied nation. Players may NOT create an alliance as a free action. Alliances can only be made in a Diplomatic Negotiation. Players may only initiate an alliance shift with another player once per player phase, however if a player declares an alliance shift with another player, the other player is still free on their turn to declare an alliance shift with that original player.

• • Alliance shifts must be announced to all players—it may not be done privately.
    When a player shifts an alliance during her turn, the other player who was shifted gets an immediate free action to shift their alliance with that player as well if they so desire. Players may shift alliances based on the following table: (See “Alliances” section herein).

Opposing Player Shifts Alliance to:	Your Shift as a Free Action:
Unaligned	No shift, Unaligned, Rival
Rival	Unaligned, Rival*
*You may not remain Allied with a Rival Nation.

Warhead Phase:

After every player has taken their turn, all warheads on the game board are moved one grid space by the player(s) who launched them, unless otherwise specified by card text.

Warheads move one grid space at a time during warhead phase, unless otherwise specified.

Once all warheads have been moved, resolve any Fallout or Strike damage, and that completes the Warhead Phase. The next round begins in the same order as the previous round. (See: Fallout & Strike Damage herein).

Nuclear Warheads

Each nation player starts with a number of nuclear Warheads. Throughout the game, they may want to build more Warheads, get rid of Warheads, or launch Warheads.

• • A player cannot launch a Warhead on their first turn of the game.
  • At any point in their turn, a player with Warheads in their Stockpile can declare that they are launching against another player.
    • Once a player launches a Warhead, their turn ends immediately, even if they have remaining turn actions.
    • Any time a Warhead is launched, the Doomsday Clock advances by 1 (even if the warhead is a Counterstrike).
    • When a player's Warhead strikes, even if it didn't hit the original declared target, the attacking player who launched the Warhead loses 1 Will of the People, unless directed otherwise by an Action Card or Nation Card.
    • There is no Will of the People penalty for launching a Counterstrike, but it still advances the Doomsday Clock (see “Counterstrike” section herein).

Build

• Players may use one or both turn actions to build as many warheads as they have resources for.
  • Players can only build a Warhead if they have the minimum Will of the People requirement specified in the nuclear program dossier on their Nation Card.
    • Players do not lose Will for building Warheads, but they must discard the resources specified in their nuclear program dossier.
  • Unlike trade deals, players cannot deceive when discarding resources to build a Warhead. No lying to build nukes.

Launch

Once per turn, a player may launch a warhead at another player's nation or military minis. Be careful, though: any time a warhead is launched, the Doomsday clock ticks closer and closer to midnight.

• • To launch a Warhead, a Player must publicly declare that she is launching a Warhead and who his intended target is.
  • He places his Warhead mini on any of his silos, with the target nation's flag token in the slot, flag side out. If his target is another warhead, he takes the nation token of the player whose warhead he is trying to destroy and places it in the slot warhead side out. His turn is now over, even if he had remaining turn actions.
  • Unless otherwise stated by specific card text, any warhead launch advances the Doomsday Clock by 1 minute.

Reprogram a Nuclear Warhead

Players may use one or both turn actions to reprogram one of their live warheads. They may only reprogram their warhead, unless otherwise specified by a card or “Nation Special.”

• • To reprogram a warhead, a player declares that they are using a turn action to reprogram one of their warheads.
  • He declares which nation, military token, or other warhead is his new target.
  • He replaces the original target with the new target token.
  • There is no limit to the amount of times a warhead can be reprogrammed, but you can only reprogram one warhead per turn action.

If you are targeting a specific nation's warhead, you may strike any of the live warheads with that nation's warhead token on top, even one that was launched after yours!

Counterstrike

Players can defend against a Warhead by launching an intercepting warhead. This is called a “Counterstrike.”

• • To launch a Counterstrike, a Player must publicly declare that she is launching a Counterstrike, and which nation's warhead is her intended target.
  • He places his Warhead mini with the opposing nation's flag token (warhead side out) on any of his “launch zones” (indicated with a silo-shaped symbol) on the board. His turn is now over, even if he had remaining turn actions.
  • Unlike warhead strikes, Counterstrikes do NOT affect the defending player's Will when they hit their target, but they do advance the Doomsday Clock.
    • If a counterstrike warhead is reprogrammed mid-flight, and its target becomes a nation, it is no longer a counterstrike, and upon successful strike the player will incur −1 Will. If this Counterstrike was launched to satisfy an objective, as it is no longer a counterstrike, it no longer satisfies terms requiring a successful counterstrike.
    • If a warhead aimed at another nation is reprogrammed mid-flight, and its target becomes another warhead, it becomes a counterstrike, and upon successful interception, the launching player will not incur any Will penalty.
  • Unless otherwise stated by specific card text, any warhead or Counterstrike launch advances the Doomsday Clock by 1 minute.
    FOR QUICKPLAY: Launching a Counterstrike is a free action at the start of your turn. It still advances the Doomsday Clock, but it does not end your turn or cost a turn action.

Warhead Phase

• • After every player has played their turn in a round, all Warheads move one grid space, starting with the player who was first during player phase and continuing clockwise until every warhead has been moved.
    • All warheads must move. They cannot stay in place unless otherwise stated by card text.
    • A warhead may move in any direction at any time—they do not have to follow a straight line. A warhead may move backwards, however it cannot occupy the grid space it was previously on.
    • A warhead may circle the globe—if it reaches the edge of the board, instead of moving side to side or backwards, it can push forward off the board and come back to any space with a corresponding number/symbol.

Unless otherwise stated by card text, every time a warhead successfully strikes a nation, even if it doesn't strike its intended target, the launching player loses −1 Will.

FOR QUICKPLAY: Launching a Counterstrike is a free action at the start of your turn. It still advances the Doomsday Clock, but it does not end your turn or cost a turn action.

Fallout & Strike Damage

Fallout

• When a Counterstrike is successful, any nations in the grid space where the missiles collided experience Nuclear Fallout.
  • All affected players must discard one Swindl.
    • If a player does not have a Swindl to discard, they lose their next turn.
  • Nuclear Fallout does not affect Military Invasion forces.
  • Nuclear Fallout does not count against you when tallying points for the end of the game (See: Ending the Game section below).
  • You are affected by fallout even if it is your own warhead that detonates above your borders.

Strike

• When a Warhead hits a nation, there are several consequences for the player who has been struck:
  • The player who has been hit places a “strike” token on the grid space where they were hit. This may cost them at the end of the game.
    • If more than one nation occupy that space, place the strike token on a space that only the struck player occupies, to avoid confusion.
    • If there are no available spaces, the struck player may place the strike token on their completed objective cards.
  • The player who has been hit loses −1 Will.
  • The player who has been hit must discard 2 Resource Cards
    • If the player has fewer than 2 Resource Cards to discard, she must discard all available resources and loses an additional −1 Will.
  • If the Warhead hits a grid space with more than one player, only the declared target suffers the effects of the strike. All other players in that grid space experience Fallout.
  • If a Warhead strikes a space with Military Invasion Forces, all Military minis in that space are destroyed, and are removed from the board. If there are Military minis (land, sea, or air) in other spaces in the nation that was just struck, they are not affected.
  • At the end of the game, the nation with the most strikes against them loses 1 point (See: How to Win section below).
    There is a consequence to the player who successfully struck another nation:
  • Unless otherwise specified by a card or “Nation Special”, upon a successful strike, the player who launched the Warhead loses −1 Will.

Advancing the Doomsday Clock & the Doomsday Dossier

The Doomsday Clock advances one “minute” whenever a warhead is successfully launched. The dock advances regardless of the intent of the warhead (launch of aggression vs. defensive launch vs. counterstrike).

Doomsday Dossier

When the Doomsday Clock strikes 11:55, (“5 Minutes to Midnight™”), the Doom Dossier is unlocked. Whichever player caused the clock to strike 11:55 (or the last player who took their turn opens the Doom Dossier and removes the Doomsday Deck, placing it on its designated spot on the board. The Doomsday Deck may now be drawn from during the player phase. The Doomsday Deck is treated like the other decks and follows the rules of the “draw” action. Unless otherwise stated on the card, Doomsday Cards may not be discarded, stolen, or passed to another player. Doomsday Cards can only leave the player's hand if played or traded with affirmative consent from all parties involved. Unlike the regular decks, players may not discard undesirable Doomsday Objectives unless expressly permitted to do so on the face of a given card. They must remain in the player's hand until completed or the game ends. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the Doomsday Deck is excluded from any condition that would allow players to look at the cards of a deck during gameplay.

The Wasteland

Once a player loses all their Will of the People (Will=0), they turn into a Wasteland, creating new conditions and challenges.

• • Wasteland players flip their Nation Cards to the opposite side & discard all “alliance” tokens.
    • All other players discard the wasteland's nation token from their alliances.
  • Wasteland players keep all their warheads, but due to a shortage of resources and engineering, the build cost required to make Wasteland warheads is substantially higher.
  • As it is no longer a sovereign nation, the wasteland is not concerned with “Will of the People.” A wasteland can neither gain nor lose Will. Any card or condition instructing the addition or subtraction of Will is ignored by the wasteland. All other conditions are followed.
  • Wastelands may still engage in diplomacy with other nations, but they are not a sovereign nation with an alliance, so no Will bonuses or penalties apply for either player in the negotiation.
    • When trading Wasteland warheads with another player, the Wasteland player slides their warhead token down the silo by 1.
    • The non-Wasteland player has two options: they must declare which option they choose:
      • a) Decommission—The wasteland warhead is converted into resources. The player who is trading with the wasteland draws 1 Resource Card from the Resource Deck and gains +1 Will.
      • b) Rust Bucket Chance—the player making a trade with the wasteland flips a nation token. If it lands warhead side up, the warhead is successfully traded! If it lands flag side up, the missile is a dud, and the player gets nothing.
  • When a wasteland warhead strikes its target (nation player or another warhead), they flip a nation token. If it lands warhead side up, the warhead is successful! Follow the rules for strike or counterstrike accordingly. If it lands flag side up, the missile is a dud, and nothing happens.
    • If a player has warheads on the board that were launched when they were a sovereign nation but they then became a Wasteland nation, those warheads become wasteland warheads and are subject to wasteland warhead strike conditions.
  • Wastelands may attempt diplomacy with other wastelands. There is no restriction on trade or hostility between wastelands.
  • Incomplete objective cards that rely on alliances can no longer be satisfied by a wasteland.
    • A wasteland may still discard an undesirable objective card, but she must draw two objective cards in its place.
      • Doomsday Objectives cannot be discarded.
  • Wastelands cannot win by “Last Nation Standing”. (See: How to Win section below).

Wasteland Military Rules

The Wasteland may still build and deploy military invaders (now called “marauders”), however there are a few key differences:

• • Wastelands do NOT need to hold the “military forces” resource card to deploy their marauders.
  • However, the cost to build new marauding forces increases.
  • Wasteland tanks may only move a maximum of two spaces from the wasteland border at any time.
  • Wasteland warships may only move a maximum of 4 spaces (one space per turn action). On what would be its fifth movement, it experiences catastrophic mechanical failure and “sinks” (remove warship from play).
    • If a wasteland warship makes port on its 4^th movement, it docks until it attempts to move again, or is destroyed by a warhead or opposing military force.
  • Wastelands take a −1 penalty to the mining reward printed on their occupied nation's nation card.

If a player becomes a wasteland while they have military forces actively deployed, they must recall all infantry and tank forces to any “silo” space within their borders, but warships stay where they are (since no their movement is restricted).

When a Wasteland is Struck

If a Wasteland is successfully struck by a warhead, the Wasteland discards one resource card.

• • If the Wasteland player has no resource cards, they must reduce their warhead stockpile by −1.

What Other Players Should Consider

• • All other players discard the wasteland's nation token from their alliances.
  • Interactions with Wastelands cannot be used to satisfy Sovereign Nation objectives involving allies or enemies, unless otherwise specified on the OC.
  • Wastelands may still engage in diplomacy with other nations, but they are not a sovereign nation with an alliance, so no Will bonuses or penalties apply for either player in the negotiation.
    • When trading Wasteland warheads with another player, the Wasteland player slides their warhead token down the silo by 1.
    • The non-Wasteland player has two options: they must declare which option they choose:
      • a) Decommission—The wasteland warhead is converted into resources. The player who is trading with the wasteland draws 1 Resource Card from the Resource Deck and gains +1 Will.
      • b) Rust Bucket Chance—the player making a trade with the wasteland flips a nation token. If it lands warhead side up, the warhead is successfully traded! If it lands flag side up, the missile is a dud, and the player gets nothing.
  • Wastelands may attempt diplomacy with other wastelands. There is no restriction on trade or hostility between wastelands.

How A Wasteland Gains Points

• • There are 4 classes of Wasteland objectives. In order to end the game, a wasteland must complete all the objective cards in their hand and one wasteland objective from each class on the wasteland objective card. Objective cards that cannot be completed must either be traded for new Objective cards during player phase, or placed face up as “failed objectives” to have their points deducted at the end of the game.
    • Wastelands may disregard the chart “Objective cards needed to end the game.”
    • Wasteland objectives are the same on every Wasteland card.
      • The wasteland player does not need to disclose which objective from a given class they are trying to achieve.
      • When the player completes a wasteland objective, they must announce it to the room.
      • Like a sovereign nation, wastelands may declare completed objectives on anyone's turn during player phase or warhead phase.
    • As Wasteland players complete Wasteland Objectives, they tally the Wasteland Objective points earned by taking their own Nation Tokens out of the box and placing them below their country card in the “wasteland objectives” area (1 nation token=1 point). These point values are added to the player's final score at the end of the game.
      • If the game ends before the Wasteland player can complete all the wasteland objectives, any incomplete Wasteland Objectives do NOT get deducted from the player's the final score.
      • As with sovereign nations, any incomplete objective cards in the player's hand at the end of the game have their point values deducted from the player's final score.

Ending the Game

The game ends when any of the following occur:

• The Doomsday Clock reaches “MIDNIGHT”
• “Last Nation Standing”—there is only one Sovereign Nation left (all other players are Wastelands)
• A player completes the requisite number of Objective Cards for the number of players (see table “Objective Cards to End Game”).
• A Wasteland player completes four Wasteland Objectives plus any unsatisfied Objective Cards still in their hand.
• All countries become Wastelands

How to Win

At the end of the game, players add up the points from all their completed Objective Cards, remaining Warheads (1 Warhead=1 point), and Will of the People (1 Will=1 point). The player with the highest point total wins.

• • Incomplete Objective Cards count as negative points and must be subtracted from that player's point total (this does not apply to Wasteland Objectives).
  • Each player tallies up the number of times they have been struck. Each strike counts as a negative point (−1) and must be subtracted from that player's point total.
    • Tally up the number of times every Nation has been struck—the nation with the most strikes against them loses an additional point (−1).
    • If there is a tie for most strikes, every tied nation takes the −1 penalty.
• If there is a “Last Nation Standing”, they get an additional 2 bonus points. If there are multiple Sovereign Nations at the end of play, no bonus points are earned.

Objective Cards Needed to End the Game

		# of Completed Objective Cards
	# of Players	Needed to End the Game
	3 players	6
	4 players	6
	5 players	5
	6 players	5
	7 players	4

Game Vocabulary

• Alliance—When two nation-players negotiate to become allies. Trading with an Ally earns the nation-player +1 Will.
• Counterstrike—when a defense treaty between two nation-players is successful, and an attacking warhead is intercepted by a defensive warhead.
• Defense Treaty—when two nation-players enter into a specific agreement that one nation-player will launch a defensive warhead on behalf of the other nation-player.
• Defensive Warhead—A warhead launched exclusively against another warhead.
• Diplomacy—Diplomacy is the act of opening up communications between any two nation-players. Player alliances do not restrict the technical ability to attempt Diplomacy, but depending on the players' disposition, it may make a successful negotiation more difficult.
• Disarm—When a nation-player completely removes all warheads from their silo. A player may disarm themselves or another player, by launch, trade, or destruction.
• Doom Dossier—The Doom Dossier is a secret protocol of global objectives that may be drawn from when the Doomsday Clock strikes “6.” Many of these objectives carry a higher point value, and a correspondingly high difficulty.
• Fallout—When a Warhead Strike or Counterstrike is successful, any Nations in that grid space experience Fallout, even if they were not the intended targets.
• GDP—The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the amount of resources each nation starts the game with. The GDP is printed on the individual Nation Card
• Launch Site—this is the spot on the game board within your Nation's borders that a Warhead launches from. When you launch a Warhead, place the token on a Launch Site icon within your borders. Some nations may have more than one Launch Site. Launch Sites are denoted by a silo-shaped symbol.
• Nukonium (new-KOH-nee-am)—Global resource. Can be spent to build warheads, or traded with other nations.
• Occupied Nation—a nation that is host to a Military Invasion token. This nation may not draw from the resource deck as long as they are host to foreign military tokens, even if they are not the intended occupant (such as in the case of shared borders, or tokens “passing through” a player's borders).
• Reprogram—When a warhead that has been launched toward a target has its target changed mid-flight.
• Rivalry—When two nation-players are rivals. Trading with a rival costs the nation-player −1 Wilt
• Sovereign Nation—When a nation still has “Will of the People”, it has a smaller cost for its nuclear warhead program, and it has the ability to form alliances with other nations.
• Strike—When a nuclear warhead successfully hits its target nation.
• Swindl (swin•dle)—Game currency. Can be spent to build warheads, or traded with other nations.
• Unaligned—When two nation-players are neither allies nor rivals. Trading with an unaligned player carries no bonus or penalty.
• Wasteland—When a nation loses all its “Will of the People”, it has a greater cost for its nuclear warhead program. Wastelands may not form alliances with other nations.
• Will of the People (Will)—Will of the People (Will) are effectively the “Hit Points” in 5 Minutes to Midnight™.
• Warhead—The primary tool of aggression in 5 Minutes to Midnight™. Warheads can be launched against another nation-player, or against another warhead.

What is the Real Doomsday Clock

At the time this game was invented, the real doomsday clock was 2.5MtoM. Assuming you haven't been massacred by nuclear hellfire, what is the doomsday clock today?

Referring now to the accompanying photographs and drawings, FIG. 1A shows the box top to this board game. Note the numerous references to its title: “5 Minutes to Midnight” with the main title section using an analog clock face with its clock hands set at 11:55.

FIG. 1B shows a representative board game box bottom (or reverse of FIG. 1A). To the right of a brief game summary is a photograph showing two relatives of one of the co-inventors playing the game.

FIG. 2A is a top plan view of a first embodiment of playing board 10 for the game which, in this case, is a world map showing 16 real countries (abbreviated) that are the countries to be considered for game players. On the far left edge of this playing board 10, there is a doom counter 20 showing a score keeping chip 30 at point “6” on the countdown clock, if you will. In alternate versions, this sliding scale timer/counter could be replaced with a standard analog-shaped clock face, possibly numbered from 1 to midnight, with the countdown rendered with a clockwise rotation.

Also, on this board 10 are areas in which to place for players to draw from stacks of action cards 40, resource cards 50 and objective cards 60. The board 10 further includes a place for storing any and all used cards, at discard pile 70. Preferably, there is a hexagonal overlay across the nations of this board 10 like that seen more clearly in FIG. 2B below for a culmination of fictional country/players.

FIG. 2B is a first alternative playing board 110 under consideration with a plurality of hexagon-shaped spaces 112 for playing tiles 114. This version uses fictional rather than real countries on its world map with plans to add a clock counter (digital or analog) and drawing cards adjacent the playing board 110 or directly on another variation of this alternative playing board.

FIG. 3A shows a set of detailed playing parameters for a representative country card, in this case, for the player who chooses to play as Australia (AUS). On the left side of FIG. 3A is the main playing information for regular country card 200 that includes is abbreviation 210, nation flag 212 nation description 214 allied/friendly nation token indicator 216, unaligned/neutral nation token indicator 218, rival/enemy nation token indicator 220, bonus points token indicator 222 and “special ability” block 224 about the card's perimeter. In addition, this card will contain specifics for that country's game play, including but not limited to: a natural resources number 228, starting resources (or GDP) indicator 230, current number of warheads in inventory 232, number of warhead slots (or silos) available 234 and cost-to-build chart (or military spending table) 236.

On the right side of FIG. 3A, information is included on the reverse 300 of card 200 if that country player (in this case, AUS) was nuked and made into a Wasteland 310 with its own wasteland flag 312. Commonalities with the card front include: a wasteland bonus points token indicator 322, wasteland “special ability” block 324, wasteland natural resources number 328, wasteland silos indicator (all empty in this case) 334 and a marauder (rather than military) spending table 336.

FIGS. 3B1 and 3B2 are photographs depicting the fronts to the 16 country player cards for one preferred embodiment of this game board. They include particular player information for, 3B1: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India and Japan; along with, 3B2: Mexico, the Middle East, North Korea (PRK), Russia, South Korea, Great Britain (the UK), the United States and South Africa (ZAF). Note how each country card includes particular indicators for that country's number of nukes (with a stockpile count, there above) and Will of the People counter,

FIGS. 3C1 and 3C2 are photographs depicting the fronts to the 16 country player cards for this same preferred embodiment if those respective 16 countries were nuked and turned into their respective Wasteland equivalents. Note how for each of these Wasteland equivalents, the country's Nuke count is emptied (or zeroed out) and they cannot act according to any Will of the People counter cards.

FIG. 4 shows 10 representative Objective cards for use with a first preferred embodiment of this game. FIG. 5 shows 10 representative Conspiracy-Political cards for use with the first preferred embodiment of this game described below. FIG. 6 shows 10 representative Resource cards for use with the same first preferred embodiment.

Having described the game of this invention above, it is to be understood that it may be otherwise embodied in the scope of the appended claims.