Ken says: A brilliant, if somewhat dark concept of nuclear annihilation comes to the gaming world via the very popular Nuclear War. Basically, you play a the leader of a fictitious country bent on dominating the world through two means. One which seeks to eliminate the populations of other countries through propaganda (which is no fun) or by arming the missiles and sending them careening towards your opponents homeland. The catch is that it takes three turns before your weapons can launch, so you have to plan carefully. When a war begins, propaganda is useless until one of the players is eliminated. Table talk is pretty important if you lack the missiles to adequately deter a strike.

   The nuclear delivery systems come in a variety of means. Besides the expected Atlas and other rockets is the B-70 bomber (while the plane never made it into production, it remains one of the most advanced and coolest looking planes ever developed). Which can keep hitting an opponent over and over again. The results of each strike are augmented by the "spinner" which can add or subtract from the population destroyed. Plus, if your arrow lands on the, albeit small space of the cobalt reaction, you can eliminate everyone, including you, from the game. There are also missiles which can defend against incoming strikes.

   Also, there is the possibility of releasing biological weapons, namely the Super Germ. Which can eliminate 25 million people. This can be a real game ender for most players and thus my basic complaint.

Pros:   With it's short playing time and dark theme, Nuclear War is an enjoyable time killer (no pun intended) and belongs on the shelf of any gamer who wants to "Nuke Em' Raw!!"

Cons:  Player interaction is less than I expected. And with the random shuffle of populations at the beginning of the game, you may not have enough bodies to absorb even a minor skirmish. To be fair, a player that is eliminated may launch all remaining weapons at his/her attacker. But that doesn't detract from the feeling of being at the mercy of the spinner.

Addendum: I'm definately in the minority about my opinion of this game.  For me, it's ok but not as good as it's reputation.