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Eyeball to Eyeball: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Created by Central Michigan University Press

A Cold War simulation / parlor LARP about the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Home Stretch and Character Capsules
4 months ago – Thu, Jul 18, 2024 at 06:23:01 AM

Hi all,

We've entered the home stretch of the campaign, and we're super close to making our goal. We'd definitely love it if folks could mention the campaign to their various networks and help us get the word out in the final days. Here's a direct link to the campaign for handy copying:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/central-michigan-university-press/eyeball-to-eyeball

Also, Ray Kimball, one of the designers of Eyeball to Eyeball, has been providing short glosses on the various characters in the game that people can play on his social media these last few weeks. We'd thought it would be good to collate them all here for everyone. We'll drop these in groups over the next few days as we approach the end of the campaign.

First up today: the Cuban roles in the game. Ray's commentary on the role is in italics below the description.



Raul Castro: Brother of Cuba’s president and leader of their armed forces. Most Cubans call you le pequeño (the little one), implying that you’ll always stand in Fidel’s shadow. Can you keep the Revolution alive?

The Cuban roles are really fun, in that they give the most flexibility in small groups (20-ish). Raul is a great example; the player's role sheet gives them the flexibility to be super-loyal to Fidel, or play up being the sidelined younger brother. Historically, the real Raul did both at different times.



Che Guevara: Even as a foreigner, you rallied tremendous patriotism and loyalty among the guerrilla fighters and Cuban civilians. Now, you are Fidel’s right-hand man. Can you keep the Revolution alive?

Ah, Che Guevara. I get asked all the time why we don't use "that picture" of him (the face that launched a thousand t-shirts.) The practical answer is that it's unclear whether that image is in the public domain, so we just steered clear of it. It's also fair to say that the image evokes strong reactions from people that aren't really consistent with the aims of the game. Thus, we use this shot instead, which is actually from 1965 and a meeting he had in China.
 


Anibal Escalante: One of the founders of Cuba’s Socialist Party. You were overlooked by Castro’s revolutionary movement, which led you to cultivate close ties with Kremlin insiders. Can you keep the Revolution alive?

Anibal was a challenging role to write because he only comes into play in games of 25 or more. So we had to think about how he would have meaningful engagement at that size. Hence, the teaser about him being a Kremlin insider with the idea that he might have specific insights on what the Soviets are doing.

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One week to go, everyone. We're almost there. Let's go!

ExpSim and Discord
5 months ago – Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 10:44:31 AM

Hello everyone!

First off, thank you to those who have made an early pledge in this campaign. We appreciate the early support and look forward to continuing the momentum. We'd especially love it if you could share the campaign with your own networks and friends who might be interested in Eyeball to Eyeball. Just send them the link below:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/central-michigan-university-press/eyeball-to-eyeball

Second, if you are on Twitter or Facebook, you should check out co-designer Ray Kimball's 42 Educational Games Coaching and Design feeds, where for the rest of the campaign, he will be sharing informational nuggets about the different player character roles in the game. 

Finally, we've had a few questions about what's up with using ExpSim and Discord when playing Eyeball to Eyeball. To that end, Ray Kimball has provided us with a brief explainer on how that all fits together. We've added it to the campaign story, but you can also watch it directly here:



We've also added the text to the FAQ section of the campaign, for those that wish to read instead of watch.

Let's keep it going, folks! We'd love to be able to tackle some of the stretch goals we have in play, some of which we haven't even revealed yet. 

Stay frosty, everyone!