Glasnost The Game
Encyclopedia
Glasnost The Game is a strategic
board game
, produced by a company in Cyprus
, YL Games. It was invented in 1989 by Cypriot Neuroscientist
Yiannis Laouris
, with help and inspiration from his daughter Romina and his friend George Vakanas in Tucson/Arizona. Glasnost The Game is a turn-based game for ideally four players. It is played on a board depicting a partly modified political map of the Earth, divided into territories, which are grouped into seven continent
s. The continents are surrounded by a path along which the token-ships of the players move. The Players move their tokens with the classical throw of dice. Players attempt to colonize bordering territories from other players. Once you own a territory, you may construct industries. In every round, your industries produce weapons for new armies, which eventually facilitate a player’s ability to make war and conquer new territories (again with the throw of dice). At any time, you may unilaterally disarm any country that belongs to you. The winner is the player who manages to disarm every territory that belongs to him or her.
while he was studying medicine in Leipzig
, then East Germany, when the country was communist. The inventor moved to Göttingen
, then West Germany
at the time when Mikhail Gorbachev
published his Peristroika and Glasnost
books. While watching deadly wars in the news, and playing board games like Anti-Monopoly
and Risk Game
with his 7-year old daughter, she was annoyed by the suffering of people all over the planet, and she expressed a wish to “demilitarize” the earth. As the father used the word “glasnost”, to explain the impossibility of a world without armies, she suggested the creation of a game that begins with wars and armies and the winner would be the player who manages to get rid of them.
Various newspapers covered Glasnost The Game publication.
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, produced by a company in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, YL Games. It was invented in 1989 by Cypriot Neuroscientist
Neuroscientist
A neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
Yiannis Laouris
Yiannis Laouris
Yiannis Laouris is a social and business entrepreneur. He is a neurophysiologist and systems scientist trained in Germany and the US, who has also become known for his socially responsible work and scientific contributions in the fields of peace and development through the application of modern...
, with help and inspiration from his daughter Romina and his friend George Vakanas in Tucson/Arizona. Glasnost The Game is a turn-based game for ideally four players. It is played on a board depicting a partly modified political map of the Earth, divided into territories, which are grouped into seven continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s. The continents are surrounded by a path along which the token-ships of the players move. The Players move their tokens with the classical throw of dice. Players attempt to colonize bordering territories from other players. Once you own a territory, you may construct industries. In every round, your industries produce weapons for new armies, which eventually facilitate a player’s ability to make war and conquer new territories (again with the throw of dice). At any time, you may unilaterally disarm any country that belongs to you. The winner is the player who manages to disarm every territory that belongs to him or her.
Equipment
Each Glasnost The Game game comes with a Board, a dice, 36 cards and a number of differently colored tokens denoting armies and industries: Armies are dark, industries are light colored. Both types of token come in the following numbers and denominations: 25x1, 20x2, 5x2, 5x10, 5x20History
The inventor witnessed the effects of Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
while he was studying medicine in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, then East Germany, when the country was communist. The inventor moved to Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, then West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
at the time when Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
published his Peristroika and Glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
books. While watching deadly wars in the news, and playing board games like Anti-Monopoly
Anti-Monopoly
Anti-Monopoly is a board game made by San Francisco State University Professor Ralph Anspach, in response to Monopoly. The game was originally to be produced in 1973 as Bust the Trust but the title was changed to Anti-Monopoly.-Gameplay:...
and Risk Game
Risk (game)
Risk is a strategic board game, produced by Parker Brothers . It was invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du Monde in France. Risk is a turn-based game for two to six players...
with his 7-year old daughter, she was annoyed by the suffering of people all over the planet, and she expressed a wish to “demilitarize” the earth. As the father used the word “glasnost”, to explain the impossibility of a world without armies, she suggested the creation of a game that begins with wars and armies and the winner would be the player who manages to get rid of them.
Various newspapers covered Glasnost The Game publication.
Newspaper articles on its release
- Fileleftheros Newspaper (Greek name = Εφημερίδα Φιλελεύθερος) . Glasnost also as a Game now: Creator a Cypriot professor researcher (Greek = Τώρα και παιχνίδι η Γκλάσνοστ: Δημιουργός του Κύπριος καθηγητής ερευνητής), 23 December, 1989.
- Xaravgi Newspaper (Greek name = Εφημερίδα Χαραυγή). Glasnost, a new youth game (Greek = Γκλάσνοστ, ένα νέο παιδικό παιχνίδι), 29 December, 1989.
- Alithia Newspaper (Greek name = Εφημερίδα Αλήθεια). Glasnost the Game of Transparency (Greek = Γκλάσνοστ το παιχνίδι της διαφάνειας ), 16 January, 1990.
- Eleftherotypia Newspaper (Greek name = Εφημερίδα Ελευθεροτυπία). Glasnost makes it to childrens’ games; Pioneering contribution of two Cypriots in the international marker place (Greek = Γκλάσνοστ και στα παιδικά παιχνίδια, Πρωτοποριακή προσφορά δύο Κυπρίων στην παγκόσμια αγορά), December, 1989.
- The Cyprus Weekly (Newspaper). Christmas Shopping – the profit and the loss, by Annie Charalambous, pg 23, Dec 22-28, 1989.