Supremacy: The Game of the Superpowers

About this board game

Supremacy: The Game of the Superpowers is a global conflict game for 2–6 players, with a listed play time of 300 minutes. Released in 1984, it pits conventional superpowers against one another in a struggle for control of the Earth.

The game combines the broad territorial conflict of modern-warfare Risk with an integrated supply-and-demand economic system. Military action is therefore presented alongside the economic forces that support a superpower’s efforts, creating a large-scale contest that extends beyond conventional battles.

Warfare can take several forms, ranging from conventional operations to weapons of mass destruction. The types of warfare featured include:

• Conventional warfare
• Biological warfare
• Chemical warfare
• Nuclear warfare

One of the game’s distinctive components is its set of small plastic mushroom clouds. These mark regions of the Earth that have been blasted, giving the effects of nuclear warfare a visible presence on the game board.

Nuclear escalation carries an especially severe consequence: if nuclear winter occurs, all players lose. This shared-loss condition places the ultimate outcome beyond a simple victory by one superpower and highlights the destructive stakes of the conflict.

Supremacy: The Game of the Superpowers also spawned many supplements designed to expand the game further. With its combination of global control, economic supply and demand, varied forms of warfare, and the possibility of nuclear winter, it presents an expansive superpower confrontation for a long session of play.