Sigma Theory: Global Cold War

This is a unique game, nothing quite like this in the market. It is basically a board game. You play as a boss of secret organization that tasked you to help your chosen country to win the tech rush, basically whoever earn most point the fastest win while at the same time keeping a doomdays clock as high as possible. The game itself doesn't explain itself well and the tutorial is barebone, the first wall every potential player will find it hard to overcome. But once you get the gist of it the game is very fun to play. A run took about an hour or two. The music blends in well and match with the spy theme. The random chances are there but you can guide it to your favor with preparations. There are no significant bug that I am aware while playing. No multiplayer though, there are not much point in unlocking more agents once you figure out the best agent of the role you want for the country you play. The AI does cheat with an unrealistic pace even if you are doing well. There are no room for roleplay or doing specific challenge (like pacific only or war crime only) because of the RNG which may limited your fun time of the game. There are almost no benefit or significant reward if you…

TL;DR. Don't ever buy this game for its $18. If you REALLY want to try it out, you should get it at least 70% off. A scientist in my team decided to indulge in a side project to induce sapience in animals. She came back a few days later having died and uploaded her brain into a dog, which could be sent out as the best agent in the game. Another scientist came to me and demanded she get her performance heroin back. I picked the option to tell her if it's so good with enhancing performance, she should share it with the science team. She went "hell yeah" and ended up overdosing herself and a different scientist to death and instantly researched multi-dimensional gate. I sent a korean hacker to Russia so that her international hacking activities wouldn't trace back to my country. I noticed both russian scientists were bisexual and ordered her to seduce them. So she became permanently stationed in Russia keeping watch on her polycule and deleting arrest warrants in Britain, which in my mind she's doing it while sipping coffee in Star Coffee shops. (Starbucks pulled out of Russia in 2022, fun fact) This sounds incredibly fun! So why am I not recommending this game? This game is shal…

This is a very niche genre with most games being a disappointment. This game is okay. I would recommend it to try if you want a spy/diplomatic strategy game. My main complaint is that not all things seem balance is what you can do. It can also feel a bit more like a puzzle than a strategy game.. I define puzzle in that there ends up being 1 clear way of solving something. Still.. i give a positive cause this genre is fun to me and they at least made something fun.

Everything fails. Is your guy 7+ intelligence? Guess what?! He can't hack anything. Is your guy 6+ strength? Guess what?! Can't extract anyone. Anything happens and the governments panic. Do nothing.....same outcome.

Best map game of all time. Once you start prioritizing hacking and diplomacy, the game becomes a lot less punishing. Wolf the goat.

Played once thru so far. I almost resigned since I was so far behind in research, but i caught up and passed everyone to win. Was that a fluke or a flaw in the game? There's just enough to do each turn to make the gameplay interesting. You have to think a few steps ahead when you want to grow your pool of scientists without losing agents. Graphics are simple but appealing and the iconography is clear. I especially like identifying and recruiting scientists - real OPSEC stuff. Looking forward to trying again with new agents.