Game Closet Reviews: Confusion: Espionage & Decpetion in the Cold War

Stronghold Games continues to be the Lazarus Pit of the board gaming world - resurrecting classic, long out-of-print games for a whole new audience, and giving them the dazzling makeovers these games deserve.  Initially publishing Robert Abbott's deduction title, "Code 777," Stronghold went on to satisfy many childhood dreams by republishing and improving "Survive: Escape from Atlantis."  Both titles offered much-improved components over the original; the production quality and customer service for this "Little Publisher that Could" on the whole is evidence of their passion and commitment to preserving the legacy of these gone-but-not-forgotten titles.

The latest in the "Castle Line" of games (a term which probably has been defined by Stronghold, but I must have missed its explanation) is another Robert Abbott abstract deduction game which Stronghold wisely added a theme to in order to make it more attractive and, I suspect, gave Stronghold the opportunity to produce another beautifully packaged title.  Abbott's "Confusion" is now republished as "Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War."

Temper those expectations right now, comrades; though "Confusion" has a spy theme, the theme is really only surface deep - at its core the game is still an abstract-deduction title.  The Cold War theme is top-notch window dressing, and there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion.  Will the theme bring new fans to the game? I sure hope so because it's definitely worth playing.

"Confusion: etc, etc." is best thought of as incorporating elements of Chess, Stratego, Soccer, and a hint of Checkers.  And there you go - you should now totally understand how to play this game...

The Board

Breaking it down a little more: Opponents have pieces set up on a Chess/Checkers-board; the goal of the game is to acquire a neutral piece, here: a briefcase, and take it to the opponent's side of the board; the first person to take it all the way to the first row of the opponent's side of the board wins.  Each of the 13 pieces has a specific movement, but that movement is hidden from the player - only his opponent knows which way the piece moves.  So when taking a turn, you'll say "I'd like to move my 'L' piece ahead two spaces," and you're opponent will either tell you that piece may move in that direction, or not.  Based on the answer, players will mark off in their dry-erase ledger what the possible movement of that piece is; the opponent will do the same in order to keep track of what he knows you know.  Pieces can capture each other by landing on the same space, but when a piece is eliminated, the piece's movement is still not revealed.

Commie Ledger

Movement in the game would become relatively clear if not for one piece, which acts as a "double agent."  For this piece, the opponent determines the movement of that piece.  As it played out with me last night, I narrowed down what I thought a particular piece's movement was, and confidently said "I want to move this piece diagonally 3 spaces," knowing that I would be able to capture one of my opponent's pieces, only to be shut down and told I can not move as I had been for the entirety of the game.  I now knew that piece was the double agent, but it also called into question the movement of many other pieces which I had thought I narrowed down.  It would have cost me the game, had my opponent not made a horribly silly move and actually captured the Double Agent! (He admits to having made 'the stupidest of moves.')

The deduction of movement combined with the tactical positioning on the board is where the legs of this game come in.  Not only are you positioning yourself in the best spot in order to eliminate your opponent's pieces early (and thereby reduce his likelihood of reliably determining movement of his surviving pieces), but you are also needing to play defense against opponent's trying to get pieces "Promoted" to become more powerfully-moving pieces while STILL needing to capture the briefcase and move it into your opponent's territory for a win.  It's pretty darn delightful.

Stronghold has also included variants into the rulebook as well as "special action" tokens that allow players to cash them in for a little more information or movement advantage.  I like that a lot - it allows a much lower barrier to entry to "Confusion: etc., etc." than would be there otherwise.

Abbott - bored to tears by his original theme

As has become expected with Stronghold Games, the production quality is outstanding: the Letter Pieces are thick, durable acrylic (not typical Bakelight, unfortunately, ala Hive; but I suspect the that was cost-prohibitive given the number of pieces in the game) that are wonderfully designed to slip the Movement Pieces in and out of, and combine into one hefty hunk of plastic; the addition of spy-theming on the pieces just add some visual pop along with the identifying letter of the piece.  The board is large with subtle colors that bring out the theme, the ledger for keeping deductions is hefty, and the dry-erase pens that come with the game have dry-erase erasers on the ends of the pen(!).  For what could have amounted to a bunch of cardboard pieces on a traditional chess board, Stronghold Games' overhaul of "Confusion" sure paid off for this component-junkie.

2-player deduction games are a fairly rare breed.  I've bought a lot of time with "Mr. Jack," which is still a very quick and fun game.  "Confusion: etc., etc." gives me a meatier deduction experience, but isn't prohibitive to new gamers.  Though, like "Mr. Jack" or, more appropriately, "Chess," I think "Confusion" is one of those games best enjoyed by similarly-skilled players.

Nevertheless, if you already have "Survive: Escape from Atlantis!" and are looking for a great two-player game, the next game in the Stronghold line demands your money.  If you don't already own "Survive," might I suggest you pick up both and purchase an insta-collection of Classics.