Description

Escape from Kabul - Doin’ the Bugout Boogie is a four player game where players represent three allied factions and one opposing faction: The three allies are: The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Non Governmental Organizations (NGO), and the Afghanistan Government. They are opposed by a Player representing the Taliban. (For classroom purposes, Players may also be teams instead of individuals.)

The game is based using modified mechanics of the popular game AFTERSHOCK: A Humanitarian Crisis Game, by Rex Brynen, notably with an inverse timeline represented in the game turn sequence.

The allies’ main purpose is to evacuate refugees from Kabul as it falls to the Taliban before the agreed upon withdrawal date of ISAF on 31 August 2021. The Taliban Player’s purpose is to inhibit these evacuations.

Refugee Tokens still on the Kabul map at the end of the game are considered failed evacuations. The game is a win or lose proposition for the allies. Since there is no game mechanic that shows whether an ally did better than another, it is suggested that all allied Players cooperate to the best of their ability.

Refugee evacuation is regulated by the Perceived Threat Urgency Index (PTUI). As the PTUI increases, refugee tokens can be evacuated quicker.

In fixed Player order 1) Taliban, 2) Afghan Gov't, 3) NGO, & 4) ISAF; players may draw Coordination cards, then a mandatory Event Card, move their tokens in the TAD phase, perform two actions (e.g. move refugees to airport, eliminate other player tokens, or media outreach, & evacuate refugees from airport), then get or take supplies. Too many hostile acts may raise the Public Affairs Tracy and the game may be lost early. There are more actions than can be mentioned here. 8 pages of rules.