Race to the Boom is a board game that simulates nuclear proliferation between neighboring countries. I printed a copy of the rules and made a physical prototype. The fictional backstory is that this game was made by soldiers assigned to a remote missile site, and they used whatever scraps they could find.

My goal with Race to the Boom was to create a game that relied solely on the player’s skill to achieve victory, meaning no random elements (dice, cards, etc.). The initial version was rudimentary. Each round players chose 1-of-4 actions that helps them earn the money to afford a bomb (gain money, build defenses, attack a neighbor, and guard).

After several iterations I came up with “Agents”: each player had to spend money to hire four unique specialists. Agents provided players with new abilities that might give them a strategic advantage if used properly. I also increased the number of actions each player can take from 1 to 2 to decrease average play time.