How to Play Twilight Struggle: Cards, Influence & Scoring
Twilight Struggle is a two-player card-driven Cold War game. Every hand forces tradeoffs because many cards can trigger events that help the opponent.
Scope: GMT Deluxe Edition standard game; Red Sea and South Asian Monsoon excluded.
Headline Phase
Each player selects a headline card and resolves the resulting events in the proper order.
Action Rounds
On each action round, play one card for its Event or Operations value.
Operations
Operations can place Influence, attempt coups, attempt realignments or support the Space Race under the normal rules.
Opponent events
If you use an opponent-associated card for Operations, its event can still trigger, making timing and damage control central.
Regional scoring
Scoring cards evaluate Presence, Domination or Control in a region and award VP based on country control and battlegrounds.
DEFCON
Coups and events can lower DEFCON. Reaching the nuclear-war loss condition immediately ends the game against the responsible player.
Space Race
The Space Race offers VP and a way to dispose of dangerous opponent events under its placement rules.
Victory
Victory can occur through the VP track, final scoring or immediate special conditions.