Disaster response (merged thread)

[Rex Brynen]

This may be of interest to some folks...

AFTERSHOCK is a game that explores the interagency cooperation needed to address a complex humanitarian crisis. Although designed for four players, it can be played with fewer (even solitaire), or more (with players grouped into teams). Game play takes two hours.



The game is set in the fictional country of Carana:

Carana has suffered years of sometimes violent turmoil, and has only recently taken the first steps to tentative steps to national reconciliation and reconstruction. Poverty is widespread, government capacity is weak, and ethnic and political tensions remain high. Nongovernmental organizations and United Nations specialized agencies are active in the country, including a moderately-sized UN civilian police (CIVPOL) contingent.

At dawn today, a powerful earthquake struck the capital city of Galasi, causing widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure. Tens of thousands of people are in need of urgent aid and medical attention. At the request of the Caranan government, military forces from several friendly countries—operating as the multinational Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Task Force, or HADR-TF—are en route to assist, as are additional contingents of UN and NGO personnel together with relief supplies.


The game explores approximately three months of humanitarian operations, including both the initial emergency and a later period of early recovery. Because Carana is a fragile, conflict- affected country, relief and reconstruction efforts may also involve issues of social unrest and political instability, especially during the early recovery stage once the initial shock of the crisis has worn off. The primary objective of all players is to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the local population. However, players also need to maintain public and political support for their organizations, whether to govern (Carana), sustain the relief mission (HADR-TF), or secure financial support (UN and NGOs).

AFTERSHOCK has its origins in the 2012 Connections interdisciplinary wargaming conference “game lab,” which focused on humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operations during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. We subsequently developed it at McGill University as an educational boardgame. The game is already in use in universities, the Canadian Humanitarian and Disaster Response Training Program, the Chilean Joint Peace Operations Center, and the US Army.

You’ll find more on the game at PAXsims.

You can order it from The Game Crafter.

For more on the Connections conferences, see http://connections-wargaming.com (US) and http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk (UK)