Making History: The Calm & the Storm

Making History: The Calm & The Storm is a World War II grand strategy video game released in March 2007 by developer Muzzy Lane. Similar in ways to the popular board games Axis & Allies and Risk, Making History is turn-based with basic industrial, economic, resource, research and diplomatic management included. The game was released as Strategic War Command in Germany. As of patch 2.03 players are able to play as any nation that had international recognition from 1936 to 1945, although players are encouraged to select from one of the more powerful entities of the era, namely Nationalist China, France, National Socialist Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States or the Soviet Union. The game has been successfully marketed by its developer as an educational tool, with the game described in a December 2007 Newsweek article as "already part of the World War II curriculum in more than 150 schools". On July 30, 2008, Muzzy Lane released the Gold edition of the game. This edition introduces a new "Rise of the Reich" scenario starting in 1933, new combat concepts including separate combat forces for units in attack or defense and the ability for partisans to launch insurrections and liberate unannexed conquered territories, along with numerous improvements to the economic system, such as increasing the supply and price of oil and reducing the cost of food. Thanks to the fact that the game comes with a scenario editor, players have been able to create scenarios and distribute them over the Internet, expanding the game experience. The game was translated into Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, French and Japanese on the Gold Edition.