A retro green-phosphor terminal (amber theme too) with typewriter text and scanlines. You log on to QUASAR-9 ("Q-9"), the strategy mind of the Grok Orbital Grid. It is an original, cartoonish homage to 1980s computer thrillers, with fictional planets and blocs. Nothing is graphic. A full campaign takes about 30–45 minutes.
Logon: crack a 3-digit access code (digits 1–4, six tries) for a bonus, or press Back for guest access.
Arcade: Tic-Tac-Toe, Star Pebbles (take 1–3, last pebble wins), Code Break (4 digits 1–6, eight tries, ● right place, ○ right digit) and Moon Dice (roll to build a pot, bank before you roll a 1, first to 30). The first five wins of each game score.
Campaign: Seven Crises. Pick one of six blocs and keep it for seven chapters (16 to 34 turns each). Each chapter adds rivals and unlocks something: research, spying, new projects. Your arsenal, treaties, tech and the tension map carry over. Every chapter has a goal. Miss it and you replay the chapter (twice at most, then Q-9 moves you on).
Six blocs, six personalities: Hawkish, Dovish, Trader, Isolationist, Paranoid and Opportunist. They differ in how they build, talk, hack and break deals. A coup can change a bloc's leaders.
Each turn you spend action points (3, or 4 on Easy) and credits on launchers, interceptors, talks, spy/hack, research or disarming. A strike needs DEFCON 2 or lower. Income depends on your people and morale. Launchers and treaties cost upkeep. If credits run out, a launcher is scrapped. If morale drops to 10, a coup at home costs you action points.
Treaties take three steps: Talks, Framework, then Treaty. Each step needs enough trust and low tension. A signed treaty caps both arsenals. Trust fades every turn you don't talk, and a neglected treaty lapses. Going over the cap or striking a partner breaks it.
Tech tree: Early Warning Radar (auto-verifies most alarms), Hotline, Better Interceptors, Spy Satellites (see true arsenals; otherwise rival arsenals are estimates), Cyber Defense and Civil Shelters.
Crises: radar alarms come with a timer. Verify for 2 credits, hold fire, or retaliate. Most alarms are false. Holding your nerve on one scores well; firing first scores very badly. If the timer runs out, Q-9 holds. World events include summits, arms races, rogue generals, coups, satellite failures, protests and trade booms.
Q-9 learns. Every alarm held, treaty signed and peaceful chapter adds to Q-9's insight, which raises the self-play bonus ending. Self-play unlocks after a skirmish or after reaching chapter 4.
Skirmishes: Cold Snap, Four Moons and Hair Trigger, each 25–30 turns. The Daily Challenge is a seeded 25-turn, six-bloc crisis. Difficulties are Easy, Normal and Hard. Hard means more aggressive AI, shorter alarm timers and lower spy odds, but it pays more.
Score = campaign chapter scores (people saved, treaties, goals, nerve held, calm turns, morale, minus launches, hits, broken accords and coups) + campaign bonus + best skirmish + arcade points + self-play bonus. Log off to post. Autosaves; no undo; every score is replay-checked on the server.