Labyrinth

GMT posted a production update with some exciting news. Labyrinth: The War on Terror has been given a production slot of August. Labyrinth uses a card-driven event mechanic to simulate the US battle (military, political, economic and diplomatic) against Islamic Jihadists. The description of the game suggests that it borrows a lot from Twilight Struggle, which was one of the most innovative games of the last decade. (Twilight Struggle simulates the Cold War.) Unlike Twilight Struggle, Labyrinth can be played two-player or solitaire, which makes the design even more innovative. (One of the curiosities about wargamers is that most of us are forced to play games solitaire at one point or another. So, a game that's designed to be played solitaire always has an audience.)

Now that the game is placed on the production schedule, gamers only have a short time to pre-order it at the reduced price ($38), as opposed to the regular retail price ($55). Since I'm sure that I want this game, I added it to my pre-order list so that I can lock in the lower price.

The other advantage of pre-ordering it is that GMT generally offers a special 50%-off Christmas deal for those who pre-order at least one game during the year. So, this should allow me to buy a GMT game half-off this December.