Can a board game help prepare Taiwan for war with China? | Entertainment News

Taiwanese company Mizo Games has launched a new board game that lets players take on roles ranging from military commanders and undercover operatives to dissident heroes fighting off a mythical Chinese invasion.

The game, titled “2045”, will be released in Taiwan this month. It will also be released later in January in English in Europe and the United States.

In August 2024, Mizo Games launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than 4 million New Taiwan dollars ($121,707 USD) within two and a half months.

In an interview with Reuters news agency in December, Chang Shao Lian, the founder of Mizo Games said: “I want players to feel that they want to win and think about what they will do to win.”

The game is being released amid growing tensions between China and Taiwan, with China increasing military operations near the island and a growing effort by civil defense groups to prepare for any potential attack.

How does this game work and can it be used to prepare for battle?

What is 2045 about?

The board game simulates a Chinese invasion of Taiwan 20 years in the future and players role-play the scene during the 10 days leading up to the invasion.

Rather than focusing solely on defending Taiwan, players are evaluated on how successfully they achieve their character's specific goals.

“There are two kinds of victory, individual victory and Taiwan victory. The two results create a huge price conflict for players. “I don't want the players to play the game just to learn, but I want them to play the game with the desire to participate and win this battle,” Shao Lian told Reuters.

Players in 2045 can take part in various aspects of modern warfare, including cyberwarfare, economic collapse and civil unrest.

The creation of “2045” encountered several challenges, mainly concerns about testing and production limitations.

The game's controversial title prevents its production in China, a departure from the usual production practices of Taiwanese board game companies.

Has Mizo Games produced any other war themed board games?

Yes, Mizo launched its first war-themed game, Raid on Taihoku, in 2017. Set in Taiwan during World War II, players must survive the bombing of their city. The game is based on the US air raid on Kaohsiung (then known as Takao) in November 1944.

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Games with social and political themes are not new, according to Paul Booth, a professor of media and pop culture at the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago, and author of the Board Games as Media, who spoke to Al Jazeera.

“A game like 2045 is important as it enables us to think and play with possible possibilities. In a way that, like a TV show or a movie, we can watch it, feel invested. We can feel involved.

“The power of a game like this is to allow players to feel connected, like participating, connected to this other history.”

2045 is part of a long-term interest in “playing out” important social issues, Booth said.

Board games that enter the public spotlight go back more than a century. “The Landlord's Game”, created in 1902 by Elizabeth Magie, was designed to teach players the negative effects of land consolidation under independent control and land confiscation.

In 1935, the game was adapted and marketed by Charles Darrow and the Parker Brothers, who changed the rules and themes to emphasize competition and wealth accumulation, and became known as Monopoly.

War is one such issue that has inspired the production of pre-war and interpersonal games.

“War is an important topic that happened centuries ago. War games where generals would place soldiers on a large table and plan military actions. This is a very common type of board game,” Booth explained.

“The genre of wargame culture is actually still very active, and we see it in things like Warhammer [released in 1983]or small tabletop games.”

It's not just board games that attract the attention of Taiwanese media companies when it comes to the idea of ​​a Chinese invasion.

“Zero Day” is a 10-episode fantasy TV drama series, depicting a possible Chinese invasion. The exhibition depicts the situation when the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the military force of the People's Republic of China, invaded the island, which may have created a shadow in Taiwan for generations.

The program is scheduled to be released this year in Taiwan.

Why is the tension between Taiwan and China increasing?

The roots of the conflict between China and Taiwan can be traced back to the Chinese Civil War, which lasted from 1945 to 1949. This conflict culminated in the victory of Mao Zedong's Communist Party over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Party, also known as the Kuomintang (KMT).

After the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek moved the government of China (ROC) to Taiwan, while Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland. Each kingdom asserted its authority as the sole legitimate government of the entire Chinese nation, leading to decades of political strife and competing claims to Chinese sovereignty.

China continues to view Taiwan as part of its territory.

In his 2025 New Year speech on China's state television channel CCTV on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can break the bonds of our family, and no one can stop the historic process of national reunification.”

However, Taiwan is opposed to any form of “reunification” and views the increasing Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait as “provocative”.

What military exercises has China conducted near Taiwan?

In August 2022, China launched missiles over Taiwan in response to the visit of then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. It described this as a “military exercise”.

Under its “China policy”, the US does not officially recognize Taiwan's independence from China. However, it supports its membership of international organizations such as the World Trade Organization. In addition, under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) of 1979, the US is committed to providing Taiwan with essential military equipment and support services to ensure that the island maintains an adequate defense capacity.

During Pelosi's visit to the island, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) condemned China's military exercises, considering it a serious threat to national security and a dangerous escalation of regional tensions.

In May 2024, China held a major military exercise, named “Combined Sword-2024”, during Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te's first week in office. The military exercise around Taiwan involved 111 aircraft, 46 naval vessels and operations including sea attack, land attack, air defense and anti-submarine operations.

In October 2024, China said the PLA's Eastern Theater Command launched new military exercises off the coast of Taiwan as “punishment” for a speech given by Taiwanese president Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation” or “interfere with our sovereignty.” “. Taiwan said it found 34 naval vessels and 125 aircraft around the island.

Recently – on December 9 – Taiwan put its military on “high alert”, launched combat readiness exercises and an emergency center “causing enemy threats”, following the sighting of nearly 90 Chinese coastal vessels and coast guards in the waters near Taiwan, in the south. The Japanese Islands and the East and South China Seas.

Two days later, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said it had tracked 53 military aircraft, 11 naval vessels and eight civilian vessels near the island in the past 24 hours.

Does Taiwan's military use games to prepare for war?

In December, the Office of the President of Taiwan conducted the first-ever “table” war games of military and government officials measuring military escalation with China to test the government's readiness to respond and to assess the effectiveness of various government agencies in maintaining social stability and continuity. in times of trouble.

According to a statement by Taiwan government officials, the war simulation exercise was conducted inside the Presidential Office in Taipei, with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu in charge.

Many government agencies, at the central and local levels, and various civil defense organizations, participated in the three-hour operation, according to sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the event.