Third Bloc

A Small Republic Between Two Superpowers

It’s 1945. Your republic has little industry, few trained specialists and no international recognition. The United States and Soviet Union have rather more to work with.

Third Bloc is a text-based political sandbox about running that country through 45 years of the Cold War. Build an economy, set the laws and get hold of technology that nobody at home knows how to make. You’ll probably need foreign help at first. What you’re willing to accept in return is up to you.

With enough progress, you can challenge the superpowers in space, develop nuclear weapons or establish your own bloc. Moving the capital to Mars is also an option.

Launches, landings, weapons tests and failures play out in detailed animated ASCII.

Build the Republic

There’s a lot to build and room for one major national project each turn.

Your facilities supply electricity, materials, consumer goods and transport. Money comes from exports. Construction draws on your material stockpile; when that runs short, imports come out of the budget. A facility also needs trained staff, who may already be needed elsewhere.

The 42 facilities range from basic infrastructure to the foundations of your space and nuclear programs. What you build first determines how soon you can afford the rest.

Beyond the economy, you choose the republic’s laws and shape its regime. Prestige projects open further paths for the country, if you can spare the resources.

Send Agents Abroad

Other countries already have much of what you need. Your agents can help you get it.

Recruit named agents with individual stats and post them abroad. They keep working without new orders every turn, handling routine matters themselves and putting important findings in your dossier.

Those findings can lead to scientists, specialists, plans and technology. Some can be obtained openly; some have to be stolen. Several advanced facilities won’t become available until your agents find the right people or knowledge. After that, finding the money and materials is your problem.

Play Both Sides

Your first diplomatic problem is getting recognized. Foreign capitals send conditions, and an early decision determines who acknowledges your republic.

Washington and Moscow can offer aid, but their demands come with deadlines. Accept or refuse, knowing that support from one side can reduce what the other is prepared to give you.

Smaller states have their own interests and requests. As your prestige grows, they may become partners in a bloc of your own. You’ll need willing members and enough independence from both superpowers to make it happen.

Race Into Space

Develop a space program with 20 missions across Earth, the Moon, Mars, asteroids and Jupiter. Early probes and flights lead to landings, crewed missions and eventually a colony.

The Americans and Soviets keep advancing while you prepare. Whether you can afford to chase them is another matter: a launch uses money and a turn that could have gone toward something the country needs at home.

On Mars, you can keep building after the colony is established. Complete its three further developments and you can move the capital there, with an ending that lets the republic’s future continue beyond Earth.

Build the Bomb

Develop nuclear weapons through research, construction and testing, then build the means to deliver them. Foreign governments take an increasing interest as your program advances.

The six-stage program eventually reaches a continental shelter. Along the way, you’ll face the changing conditions of the Cold War, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to test bans and arms-control agreements.

You can select targets and issue a nuclear order once your arsenal is ready. What follows is a war story, without a combat minigame. There are six possible nuclear endings, including survival in a shelter or the continuation of a colony on Mars.

Your Decisions Come Back

The State Telegraph Office receives letters from 312 named people. Scientists ask for support, defectors seek asylum, and foreign contacts bring demands and opportunities.

Your replies affect later correspondence. A choice may prompt someone else to write several turns later; other people approach you because of your record. The connection won’t always be immediate.

There are 936 decision letters across the campaign. As they accumulate, the telegraph office keeps a dated history of who asked you for what, how you answered and what followed.

45 Years in 90 Turns

Reach 1990 and receive a final account of your republic, from its industry and alliances to its achievements in space. A peaceful future on Mars is possible. So are bankruptcy and a nuclear war that ends the campaign with a very different story.

• 90 turns, from 1945 to 1990

• 42 facilities and an economy based on production, exports and material supplies

• Laws, regimes and prestige projects

• 20 space missions across five destinations

• A Mars colony that can become your capital

• A six-stage nuclear program and six possible nuclear endings

• Named agents working abroad

• 312 correspondents and 936 decision letters

• Superpower diplomacy and the chance to form your own bloc

• Detailed animated ASCII cinematics