The core design of Bear Trap is now done, and the two-player game is polished. So, in today’s article I thought I’d share some comments on my experience designing Bear Trap.

Ideation

I first thought of creating a game about the Soviet-Afghan War while teaching Military Ethics at university in 2013. I was drawn to the topic because of my interest in the Cold War. But there’s a lot of other interesting things going on in this conflict, beyond being a feature of the Cold War.

The Soviets used a fighting force designed for an anticipated European conflict. The Soviets had visions of a quick war which didn’t align with the realities they would face over the decade long struggle. They weren’t up for the task they would face in Afghanistan. They were ill-suited to deal with under-trained freedom fighters wanting to repel foreign invaders through a widespread insurgency. As the war dragged on, in many ways, the Soviets effectively committed a sunken cost fallacy. While these might be oversimplifications here, these factors—and the narratives around Soviet tanks streaming across the border, the desertions, and the terror wrought by Soviet airstrikes—pulled me in and engaged my interest.  But even for those not explicitly interested in the Soviet-Afghan War, Bear Trap—as a learning tool—can act as a lens through which they can learn more about aspects of history that have helped shape, or have been informed by, other things that that they are interested in. 

Over the years, different playtesters and drawn-out different parallels between the Soviet-Afghan War and other conflicts. Some note parallels with the Vietnam War. Others highlight the earlier ‘Great Game’ fought over Afghanistan. Or the contemporary struggles in Afghanistan. There are critical differences between the Soviet-Afghan War and these other conflicts, of course. But drawing such parallels is still a worthwhile thing to do if you can gain insights or new perspectives by learning in the process.   

Initial Development

By 2017, I had started thinking about how the Sekigahara engine might be well-suited to simulate the Soviet-Afghan War. Some might think, at first glance, that that’s a surprising pairing. But its loyalty challenge system, in particular, stood out to me: in the Soviet-Afghan War, while both sides struggled with cases of desertion and defection, the Soviet puppet government in Afghanistan was acutely stung by mass desertions. On top of that, Sekigahara’s streamlined card system for unit activation is simply an elegant means of managing forces both in and out of combat. But the two games are quite divergent in design and how they ‘feel’ to play. For instance, Bear Trap has evolved to be a much more asymmetric game than Sekigahara. And one of the innovative things about Bear Trap is the novel use of traditional wargame blocks to denote a unit’s disposition—as mobilized,  fortified, poised to ambush, etc.—based on its orientation.  

Over about 2 years of core design work and ‘alpha’ testing with a supportive group of playtesters in Melbourne, the game developed into one which rewards long-term strategic planning while also being tactically tense (even though the game has no dice). It’s a game where you always have a cluster of things you need to do, but you’re only able to do just a few on any given turn. And, your opponent is constantly presenting a variety of threats or applying pressure in different ways. In other words, at any point, the game offers players a rich decision space filled with difficult decisions.

GMT, Final Development, Solitaire, & Bonus Scenarios

I was thrilled when GMT picked up Bear Trap. Bear Trap fits nicely within the GMT wheelhouse. Through GMT, I was able to work with Joe Dewhurst and a wider group of playtesters to polish and balance the game, and ensure both players are rewarded with ‘maximum fun’.

The only gameplay element still in development is the solitaire mode. The solo mode for Bear Trap was a relatively late addition to the game. It was borne out of the pandemic. Like many, my solo gaming peaked during the pandemic and through it I started to think of ways in which a solo system could be developed for Bear Trap. I came up with a system which allowed someone to play as the insurgents against a bot controlled Soviet opponent. While this system works well—it functioned, provided me with the sort of solo experience I enjoyed, and presented a challenge—I’m ecstatic that Jason Carr and the GMT One team will be taking what I started and developing it into a more robust yet streamlined system, through which a player can take the reins of both sides. (I won’t say more about the solo mode here, I’ll leave that exciting news to a future announcement from Joe, Jason, and the GMT One team.)

The pandemic also gave me the opportunity to develop a few shorter scenarios for Bear Trap. The “full” game focuses on the entire war, and is playable in 90-180mins. The playtime mostly depends on how much players agonize over their decisions during the game. The game can go the duration of the entire war, but it can also end before 1989 since both sides have instant victory conditions.

So the in medias res scenario fills a gap, even if it’s a trivial one: it lets players start the game halfway through the war and manage late war challenges, while also being playable in 30-90mins (for those occasions where players don’t have enough time to dive into the full game). And because there are asymmetries between the insurgent player and the Soviet player, I also designed a short 30-60min introductory scenario.  

I’m pleased with how Bear Trap has been polished over the last few months. And I’m very thankful for, and hugely indebted to, all those who have come forward to provide feedback as playtesters.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of the Soviet-Afghan War, below are a few suggested books.

Suggested Reading:

Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89, Rodric Braithwaite (2011)

The Soviet–Afghan War 1979–89, Gregory Fremont-Barnes (2012)

The Bear Went Over the Mountain, Lester Grau (2012)

Storm-333: KGB and Spetsnaz seize Kabul, Mark Galeotti (2021)

Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History, George Crile (2003)

The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan, Gregory Feifer (2009)

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