History VideoGame / Defcon

** The {{Steam}} release was updated during the 2011 holiday sale to include SantaClaus travelling around the world delivering presents. You could destroy him with a well-aimed and well-timed nuke. Doing so earns you the "Merry Christmas" achievement, "and thereby end Christmas for everyone, for ever more".

* WarIsHell: As the game's tagline states: Nobody can win nuclear war, you can only lose the least.

* WarIsHell: As the game's tagline states: "You can't win nuclear war, you can only lose the least."

* WarIsHell: As the game's tagline states: "You can't win nuclear war, but you can lose the least."

* WarIsHell

** It's a reference to the ''Protect and Survive'' pamphlets that were planed to be handed out in the UK (along with the tv and radio broadcasts) around the height of the {{Cold War}}.

A unique RealTimeStrategy from Introversion Software, the makers of ''{{Uplink}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Darwinia}}'', and ''Multiwinia''. You play a [[NonEntityGeneral general]] in control of your chosen side's [[AtomicHate nuclear arsenal]], and your goal is to exterminate the enemy's civilian populace while preserving your own. In order to win, you must strike against your enemy's population centers while at the same time crippling their ability to retaliate. Easier said than done since launching a strike reveals the locations of that strategic asset to everyone in the game. The game is inspired by the 1983 cult classic ''WarGames'' and designed to simulate the paranoia and anxiety of the ColdWar.

** Everyone hates Europe, except Russia, because most nukes fired at and from anywhere arc over Europe, allowing European air defences to shoot them all down.

[-"It's Global Thermonuclear War, and nobody wins. But maybe - just maybe - you can lose the least."-]

* AMillionIsAStatistic: A missile hit on a city is labelled (say) "Manchester hit, 1.2m dead", but the civilian population is just a means of keeping score.

* SensorSuspense: The only hint of what might be really happening is the occasional sound of a woman crying.

* AnachronismStew: The former Soviet Republics are separate from Russia (and the European ones are a part of a UnitedEurope), but St. Petersburg is named Leningrad in game.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: [[MoreDakka The more missiles you fire]], the more that can be expected to get through an enemies defences and hit their target.

** Everyone hates Europe, except Russia, because most nukes fired at / from all sides arc over Europe, allowing European air defences to shoot them all down.

* PainfullySlowProjectile: Justified in that missiles are slow in relation to the size of the earth, and the parabolic arc they follow is how they'd actually fly to their target[[hottip:*: although the game makes no consideration for the ''actual'' curvature of the globe, as southern hemisphere launched missiles still arc as if they were launched from the northern hemisphere, and yes, that is a gameplay consideration]]. However, it's still obnoxious watching your missiles get shot down as they slowly inch toward their targets.

There are three gamemodes in DEFCON:

A unique RealTimeStrategy from Introversion Software, the makers of ''{{Uplink}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Darwinia}}'', and ''Multiwinia''. You play a [[NonEntityGeneral general]] in control of your chosen side [[AtomicHate nuclear arsenal]], and your goal is to exterminate the enemy's civilian populace while preserving your own. In order to win, you must strike against your enemy's population centers while at the same time crippling their ability to retaliate. Easier said than done since launching a strike reveals the locations of that strategic asset to everyone in the game. The game is inspired by the 1983 cult classic ''WarGames'' and designed to simulate the paranoia and anxiety of the ColdWar.

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Subverted with silos and air bases. Getting hit by a nuke reduces their arsenal.

[[caption-width-right:340:[[WarGames How about a nice game of chess?]]]]

[[AC: This page is about a work. If you're looking for the trope, that's DefconFive.]]

** Forming an alliance also reveals everything your allies sees - including their assets (and vise-versa).

** Aditionally, many of the stranger seeming exceprt from the game manual come directly from the 'Protect and Survive' information handed out in the UK during the Cold War.

* Defcon "ROUNDHOUSE" 3: Can no longer place units: air and naval conflict permitted.

* AllThereInTheManual: There is a manual available for download off the Introversion website which teaches you the basics of the game. However there are some parts where you might not be sure if it was written by a [[CrazyPrepared paranoid]] or a CloudCuckoolander

* Defcon 5: Can place units.
* Defcon 4: Radar coverage reveals the FogOfWar.
* Defcon 3: Can no longer place units: air and naval conflict permitted.
* Defcon 2: No change from Defcon 3
* Defcon 1: Nuclear attacks permitted.

When playing the game, the DEFCON level drops as the game progresses. The level determines what actions can be taken in the game.

There are three gamemodes in DEFCON

!!''DEFCON'' contains examples of :

* Defcon 2: Limited nuclear attacks (bombers) permitted.
* Defcon 1: All nuclear attacks permitted.