After the Last Sky (2023)

After the Last Sky simulates the first Palestinian Intifada, from 1987-1993. The game system is a custom implementation of the classic Card Driven Game (CDG) mechanism combined with new mechanisms that simulate civil unrest on a strategic scale. In the game 2 players simulate the First Palestinian Intifada. One side is the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU) composed of the Palestinian community leadership within the Israeli occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The other side is the conservative Likud-led Israeli government (ISR). Hamas acts as a situationally controllable faction that acts more independently from the UNLU - helping and hindering both factions at different times.

Issuing Operations and exploiting events, players recruit and deploy units to control territory and/or foment uprising. The game is played over 3 rounds composed of hands of cards that are played as actions or events. If, after this time, the Israeli player cannot maintain national will (support for the conservative administration), they will lose the game.

The UNLU’s goals are two-fold: 1) sustain on-board protests and transition them into general strikes, and 2) influence international concern by engaging in non-violent efforts. ISR aims to control the occupied territories by 1) suppressing civil disobedience in map locations, and 2) establishing intelligence networks within the communities to implant operatives or encourage collaboration with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in suppressing the civil unrest.

Additionally, automatic victory conditions exist for both sides. The UNLU player may win if international concern sways in their favor; that is, in the form of UN intervention due to human rights abuses. The Israeli player may automatically win if they deploy all of their intelligence networks, effectively snuffing out the resistance at the source.