The title comes from Sir Edward Grey on the eve of war — “the lamps are going out all over Europe” — and Compass Games’ The Lamps Are Going Out sets out to put that whole catastrophe in your hands. It’s a card-driven, solitaire-friendly treatment of the entire First World War, and in this first look I go through the map, the cards, and the flow of a turn.
Grand strategy you can run alone
What makes this one interesting is how it compresses four years of grand strategy — multiple fronts, the home fronts, technology, and the ever-present pressure of national will — into something a single player can actually manage in an evening or two. Card-driven systems are well suited to that job: the deck paces the war, throws events at you, and forces hard choices about where to spend a finite hand. A first look is the right place to see whether that machinery clicks before you commit to a full campaign.
Gameplay follows this overview, so if the system appeals, subscribe and follow the war as it unfolds on the table.
Solitaire-friendly first looks and playthroughs, several times a week. Subscribe to follow along.