The Manhattan Project 2: Minutes to Midnight

Twenty years after the events of The Manhattan Project, the superpowers resume the arms race, but now the main hurdle isn’t building nukes – everyone can churn them out. The focus shifts to the "Nuclear Triad": strategic bombers, ballistic submarines and intercontinental missiles. Each player commands a nation and, at regular intervals, a scoring round takes place in one of four categories – bombers, subs, ICBMs or short‑range missiles delivered to third‑world states. Besides points for fielding weapons, defensive bonuses are earned by mitigating threats against your realm. To do so you recruit four worker types: Laborers (run factories and facilities), Spies (operate opponents’ buildings), Politicians (generate tax revenue and sway third‑world nations) and Generals (deploy bombers, subs and missiles). The six building types are: Factories (produce aircraft and subs), Research Centers (advance five tech tracks), Reactors (produce warheads), Silos (arm ICBMs), Test Sites (detonate nukes on your own land for points) and ABM Launchers (grant defensive bonuses). The game employs layered boards, area control, open drafting, hand management and multiple worker‑type placement within a Cold‑War, retro‑futuristic setting. Play ends after all scoring events are resolved, and the player with the most points wins. It’s a standalone title, requiring no base game, blending economic strategy, tech development and secret maneuvers into a tense, thematic experience.