No Motherland Without: North Korea in Crisis and Cold War

About this board game

No Motherland Without: North Korea in Crisis and Cold War is a card-driven strategy game for 1–2 players, with a playing time of 120 minutes. Set against the history of North Korea from 1953 to the present day, it focuses on the Kim regime’s struggle against the West.

Following the Korean Armistice Agreement, the Korean peninsula remained divided. The conflict continued through more than six decades of Chinese and Soviet influence, floods, famine, isolation, economic sanctions, and the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

One player represents the DPRK, while the other represents the West. Each side pursues different objectives in a high-stakes contest shaped by regional security, internal stability, and international pressure.

• DPRK: Seek a nuclear deterrent to invasion, improve living standards to prevent an uprising, and purge elites to prevent a coup.
• West: Aid defectors to obtain intelligence, hinder the missile program, impose sanctions, and further isolate the DPRK.

For the West, sanctions are intended to impede the North Korean economy and intensify pressure on the regime. Efforts to stymie the missile program aim to secure the region, while support for defectors provides intelligence.

In No Motherland Without, the opposing sides confront the enduring consequences of division and the difficult choices surrounding survival, security, and political control. Released in 2021, the game offers a focused strategic depiction of North Korea in crisis and during the Cold War.