DEFCON scares me and science says it will scare you too - nzwargamer.net

DEFCON scares me and science says it will scare you too

Polygon
Views: 3370772
Like: 169924
DEFCON is existentially terrifying. How about a nice game of chess?

Studies:
David L. Waddington et al.“Education from inside the bunker: Examining the effect of Defcon, a nuclear warfare simulation game, on nuclear attitudes and critical reflection.” Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association. vol. 7(12), Apr. 2014

Chong-U Lim. “An A.I. Player for DEFCON: An Evolutionary Approach Using Behavior Trees.” Department of Computing Imperial College London. June 2009

Miguel Sicart “How I Learned to Love the Bomb: Defcon and the Ethics of Computer Games.” Center for Computer Game Research IT University of Copenhagen. 2009

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520 Comments

  1. Gentlemen – Gentlemen – you can't fight in the War Room…

  2. There is no "Winner" screen in Defcon. Only "Game over" screen.

  3. I'd say there is a thing that's more scary than nuclear world war and extinction of humanity. Daniil Andreev wrote about it: "What are the limits of the nightmarish scenarios that are conjured in our imagination as a result of the merger of a dictatorship of terror and twenty-first century technology? Such a tyranny would be all the more absolute because even the last, tragic means of casting it off would be closed – its overthrow from without by war. With every nation under one rule, there would be no one to war against."

  4. plague inc is very similar in my opinion, but it doesn't convey the same terror. i think the tactical aspect is the reason for that

  5. conflict of nations is another good game that has a simmilar feeling. But this is much more realistic o.o

  6. Never before in history have we made a weapon that can destroy humanity itself until ww2 when USA dropped it on Japan and I think everyone knows that once one goes off.its the end for everybody

  7. this game feels complicated if you haven't played it yet but when you do it is adictive. like factorio

  8. All across America dragovich has sleeper cells waiting for the release of the Nova 6. You probably already know that this is referencing to black ops 1

  9. Fun fact: DEFCON 1 has never in human history ever been declared.

  10. War doesn't decide who is right or wrong, only who is left…

  11. Wished more people played this, love this game especially with diplomacy.

  12. If you just got DEFCON and you can't move the mouse down then just go to the main menu then press options then press screen and the resize the resolution. if you're in a match and you want to leave press esc.

  13. I've played defcon a few rounds of it. After hitting a city with my first nuke, reading the small text simply stating "X million dead", made my stomach drop. The next few games I played the denuclearized approach; only attacking military vessels but never firing a nuke.

    I technically "lost" those rounds according to the "rules".. but in my eyes, I won. I didn't murder millions and destroy the environment–so I won.

  14. Imagine being in space and watching the nuclear fallout unfold.

  15. I've played this game, and not only did I have fun, it made me realize that if I as a mortal human am going to die someday anyway, I want it to be via nuclear war so that I can maybe hopefully witness a nuclear detonation and the fall of humanity firsthand. Arguably the most historical event in all of human history. I mean if I'm gonna die someday anyway, why not?

  16. Is this supposed to be scary ??
    I see myself addicted to this game 😂 it's hella dope

  17. There's roughly 20,000 nuclear warheads in the world, including small tactical warheads as well as strategic warheads. In the 20,000 largest cities on earth, less than 30% of all population is located. Also note that the most powerful nuclear bomb (Tsar bomb) would not have been able to completely destroy Tokyo, so these cities in event of a nuclear war would not be entirely destroyed either. Add in the fact that there's bomb shelters, a warning system, as well as the fact that two hostile powers would have no interest in bombing strategic sites in neutral countries as well as the fact that strategic bombing capabilities includes civilians as a terrorist weapon, "strategic" would usually refer to strategic sites in the sense of economic or industrial powerhouses. Civilian life has no inherent, military value in such an event; it's suitability towards being considered a target therefore is limited. Reminder again that still, if all 20,000 nuclear warheads would hit the 20,000 largest cities, no more than 30% of the world population would be affected, in the absolute worst case scenario.

    Now, ruling out such hypothetical perils such as a global nuclear winter, this is far from anything implying the extinction of humanity, it would not even come to anything like a genetic bottleneck and in a more reasonable and realistic attempt to estimate the number of potential victims, you'd go with something like 10%. Sure, apocalyptic, but percentually speaking, the Monghols were worse. They managed to eradicate 1/4 of the Old Worlds population at their time.

  18. This game looks like fun. I'll update you after I play it.

  19. When the guy keep coughing it was COVID 19 since it’s about nuclear war aka we’re all dead

  20. Ahhh I love how Australia has no defence systems (shown in the game)
    Makes me feel really safe when a nuclear missile is heading to Australia 🙂
    Actually, if that happens I'd just go play Fallout or browse the insanely slow internet.
    Also mobile communication stuff would be shut down, but it would feel the same. No internet, messages never send and I can't load a simple web page.

  21. I don't understand why we still have big metropolitan areas in a world full of nuclear weapons? Big cities are just sitting ducks! For national security reasons people should avoid living in highly populated cities, countries must be more sparsely populated, people must be encouraged to move to the countryside, we must build underground cities and nuclear shelters everywhere.

  22. Defcon is actually scary. When I first played the game, its ideas and implications were horrifiying.

  23. Violence is never the answer.
    It’s the best solution.

  24. this gave me chills, but it sounds interesting i'll check it out

  25. "Forgive them father, for they know not what they do"

  26. In my opinion, this is still the best video you have ever created. Thank you.

  27. I’ve survived with all my pops, you can win it’s just hard AF.

  28. Youtube showing me twice knife defensive tactics ads on this video…. I guess that'd be useful against an ICBM?

  29. You know which game mod is also frightening? Ever heared of the HOI4 mod called “TNO: Last Days of Europe”? Well, if you know it or watched the lore videos, then you will understand why I write this comment.

  30. DEFCON 5-“here comes the sun” by The Beatles

    DEFCON 1-here comes the sun… literally

  31. Now, THAT is ONE video game I would NEVER, EVER want to play again as long as I live (IF I can help it!)…I'd much rather play…well, umm…hmm…maybe A NICE GAME OF CHESS?!

  32. WARNING: This game, due to it's "considerably and outrightly morbid" subject matter, may NOT be suitable for children, or for sensitive or severely mentally impaired players, REGARDLESS of age. Player discretion is STRONGLY advised…OBVIOUSLY!!!

  33. Defcon doesnt really scare me
    If I was playing it I would be the kind of person who launch the nukes at my own continent

  34. "Nuclear war is a inevitable because it's a game. Someone has to win. What's more terrifying than that?"

    An instant subscribe

  35. I played this game and I had absolutely no such dilemmas. You're just a wimp. That's all.

  36. I love Defcon. Simple to play, but in terms of the concept terrifying. I have tried all out defence and been turned into a parking lot. All out attack, same result. It's almost like the only winning move is not to play. A great video on a truly thought provoking game.

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