World War III is raging and you must bring your nation to victory in a tactical battle for world domination.

Over the course of 4 years (rounds) and 11 major battles (turns)* you fight for control over real world nations. Highest Bidder: World at War comes in a cheaper, travel-friendly base edition and the ULTIMATE WARFARE edition with more cards and several – entirely optional – rules & game components.

In HIGHEST BIDDER: WORLD AT WAR you are fighting for world domination in a modern day war setting. Each year of the war (round), 3 new Nation Cards worth 1-7 points are presented at the center of the table. Using 9 Deployment Cards in your hand you must form a battle plan – sort cards in the order you wish to play them and decide which cards to spend on the next battle, and which to save for later.

When everyone is ready the dealer counts down: "3, 2, 1, Battle!". On "Battle", you must play 1 or more cards face down in a stack, known as your Battle Stack.

PROGRAMMED ACTIONS: Next, cards are revealed one at a time around the table, in the order you have placed them within your stack. Once your battle strategy has been played it cannot be changed – hilarious outcomes are guaranteed as cards begin to interact in unexpected ways!

GROUND UNITS & SPECIAL UNITS:

Numbered Ground Units (10-70) add to the current value of your bid – the most units once all cards have been revealed determines who wins the battle! Text-based Special Units take effect when they are revealed.

The game has deep levels of strategy and tactical decision-making as the placement of cards and the interaction between players, and the Special Units they deploy, can greatly affect the outcome of a battle.

BASE UNITS:

1. Field Medic: Return your most recently revealed card to your hand, to reuse in a future battle.
2. Air Strike: The next card revealed by an enemy is discarded.
3. Tanks: Remove a Ground Unit previously deployed by an enemy.
4. Radar: Draw a card at random from the draw pile to immediately deploy into battle.
5. Spy Drone: Swap the top cards of any two Battle Stacks.
6. Cargo Plane: Draw 2 cards to your hand.
7. Nuclear: The nation you're fighting for is worth half points as it struggles from the aftermath of nuclear warfare.
8. Natural Resources: The nation you're fighting for is worth double points as it's rich in natural resources.

ULTIMATE WARFARE "ADVANCED" UNITS:

1. Satellite: Copy the effect of the most recently revealed Special Unit card.
2. Submarine: Discard the bottom card of an enemy Battle Stack.
3. Helicopter: Double the value of your most recent Ground Unit.
4. Battleship: Discard a random card from an enemy hand.
5. High Tech Radar: Draw 2 random cards and deploy 1.
6. Elite Forces: Take the top (still unknown) card from an enemy Battle Stack and place it at the bottom of your own.
7. Diplomat: Return all remaining cards in your Battle Stack to your hand, if you wish to do so.
8. Gas Attack: Shuffle an enemy Battle Stack and discard 1 card.

FINAL YEAR & ENDING THE WAR:

The war ends after the 4th year – or 5th year in the ULTIMATE WARFARE edition. During the final year there are only two Nation Cards to battle for and they are worth double points. Even players who are far behind have a theoretical chance of winning, especially if there's also a "Double Points" card in play.

SCORE KEEPING:

Score keeping is easy in HIGHEST BIDDER: WORLD AT WAR. Simply keep the cards you win face up in front of you.

For an enhanced experience the ULTIMATE WARFARE edition includes optional score boards. Track your score and see the scores of all players at a glance, by moving a cube across the board.

14 REAL NATIONS

The Nation Cards represent 11 real life nations – 14 in the ULTIMATE WARFARE edition. The nations are:

BASE NATIONS:

1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. Brazil
4. Italy
5. Germany
6. United Kingdom
7. India
8. Japan
9. China
10. Russia
11. United States

SOLD ON THE GAME CRAFTER:

HIGHEST BIDDER: WORLD AT WAR was designed for the ProtoATL contest hosted on The Game Crafter. Rules of the contest included a cost of max $20 and a play time of max 20 minutes.

All games by Sträckspelsfabriken are printed and sold by The Game Crafter, a US-based print-on-demand site for indie game creators. They're pretty great, because they make it possible for people to create great products without having to print hundreds of copies that might never get sold. And, they have low-cost worldwide shipping!

Affordable world-wide shipping!

The ULTIMATE WARFARE edition of Highest Bidder: World at War introduces several new layers of strategy and decision-making to your game. It includes score boards, tokens, additional cards, special orders that can be issued once per game, and a printed strategy guide – all in a larger box to fit all components.