Balance of Power 1985 Edition is a game about geopolitics during the Cold War. You, the player, choose to be either the President of the United States or the General Secretary of the Soviet Union. The computer plays as the other country. You are trying to enhance your country's influence or prestige. Prestige in Balance of Power is the level at which your country is respected and liked by the rest of the world, weighted by their own military and political strengths. You want to have lots of powerful friends, but only a couple weak enemies.
Many things happen during a turn: All over the map, internal rumblings threaten the control of almost every country. Insurgencies develop to change governments with military force. Coups d'etat kill the leadership of governments and install new leaders. Diplomatic intimidation makes weak nations to Finlandize to the powers, in the hope that a moderate stance toward the big nation will stop an attack.
These events are the ways that you use to up your country's prestige/influence. If an enemy government fights a major battle against insurgents, you can provide money to the guerrilla. If you are risky, you can even send your own army into the nation to intervene for the insurgent (freedom fighters?). If the rebels succeed in defeating the government, their new government
will reward your help with friendly relations. Another enemy nation might be weak to domestic destabilization; a strong push by the CIA could remove the government from power and install a friendlier government. Or perhaps a lot of diplomatic maneuver and threatening could intimidate a minor nation into a wise Finlandization toward your power. There are many options available to the player, and most of them are diplomatic and directed towards preventing nuclear disaster.
The game is lots of fun if you have the patience needed to work through the sow development of the game. Any strong actions too early will lead to a quick game over and, ultimately, a frustrated you. If you do take the time to work on all the small moves that put you in a position to win the game you will find it quite fun. It provides an enormous amount of depth and gives you the chance to experience just how tenuous the job of president can be. I would recommend it to anyone willing to spend enough time to master the subtleties of the game.
