Proliferation

Proliferation is a formerly-shareware World War III strategy game for up to six players, human- or computer-controlled. Nuclear weapons, both tactical and strategic, have proliferated throughout the nations of the world, and the five largest nuclear powers, after failed efforts to militarily compel the smaller nuclear-armed nations to disarm, have plunged the world into global war. You take the role of one of the five major nuclear powers, seeking to extend your sphere of influence and eventually become the dominant power.

The game is graphically simple but has a high degree of depth and complexity. You manage both conventional and nuclear forces, economic factors, and military production. The main commodities are population, food, and oil, and the latter two must be maintained in sufficient quantity to allow the former to produce. In addition, all players must worry about increasing global and local radiation levels resulting from the use of nuclear weapons.

The author, Dion Kurczek of Silicon Commander Games, has released the game to the public as freeware.