Nuclear arms race board game The Manhattan Project is getting a sequel

Although a board game about the threat of nuclear war may be a little too ‘real’ at the moment given recent headlines, that hasn’t stopped designer Brandon Tibbetts from returning with a follow-up to his well-liked 2012 debut The Manhattan Project.

Themed around the race between counties to become a nuclear superpower, The Manhattan Project saw players assigning workers to construct warheads, protect built bombs with their military and spy on rival regions to accelerate their own development.

The Manhattan Project 2: Minutes to Midnight takes place 20 years after the invention of the atomic bomb, with the focus now shifted to the delivery of said payloads to their global targets from land, sea and air launchers.

Players race to deploy their submarines, bomber plans, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and missile installations in third-world nations by once again placing workers, while gaining additional points for building extra missiles, testing nukes and taking control of smaller countries around the world to bolster their power.

The introduction of submarines means that there is a new light bluffing mechanic involved in the gameplay, with players able to deploy decoy subs in enemy waters alongside real vessels, forcing enemies to spend an action sweeping their home waters for potential threats.

Minutes to Midnight is a standalone game, meaning you won’t need the original The Manhattan Project to play.

The game has already broken its $40,000 target on Kickstarter with four weeks left to run.

$70 (£54) gets a copy of the game shipped from the UK to anywhere in Europe, while the box is $59 (£45) in the US.