Description from Microgame Design Group:'Cuban Missile Crisis is a simulation of that crisis, where players, acting as Kennedy or Khrushchev (along with their staff), must confront the issues and either arrive at a peaceful solution or end in a holocaust. Political and strategic decisions and actions are captured by 40 cards. Rules cover air and ground operations, photo-reconnaissance, convoys, accidents, world opinion and nuclear warfare.''The 11 x 17' map covers the island of Cuba. The 280 counters show US, Soviet and Cuban ground troops, air forces, convoys and more. The 40 playing cards reflect the political and strategic options open to the national leaders.'An innovative approach to simulator the Cuban Missile Crisis in which players use cards denoted specific alert statuses and actions that allow players to win the game without ever actually going to war (which was historically the case). The American player must use his recon resources to uncover all the Soviet assets in Cuba while building up his forces for a possible invasion. The problem is ending the threat to the US posed by the Soviet weapons in Cuba without provoking World War III. - BoardGameGeek