Third Bloc is a supremely cool looking text-based political management sandbox
7 Sep 2026 at 12:15 pm UTC By Liam Squires-HandSomething about cleverly done animated ASCII really hooks me in, and Third Bloc doesn't just look good it sounds really unique too. A recent discovery I just happened to…
By Liam Squires-Hand
Something about cleverly done animated ASCII really hooks me in, and Third Bloc doesn't just look good it sounds really unique too. A recent discovery I just happened to stumble across on Steam, and it immediately pulled me in with the idea behind it.
More about it - "In 1945, the United States and Soviet Union already dominate the world. Your newly established republic has little industry, few trained people and no claim to power. Third Bloc is a text-based political and state-management sandbox about closing that gap. Build factories and research facilities, recruit scientists, obtain technology abroad and bargain with governments far stronger than yours. Over 90 turns, the republic can develop a space program, build nuclear weapons and stop living on terms set in Washington or Moscow. You begin as an irrelevant poor state and can finish as a third power. Major launches, landings, weapons tests and failures play out in detailed animated ASCII."
Check out the trailer below to see just how slick it is:
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- A 90-turn campaign running from 1945 to 1990.
- 40 development facilities.
- 23 space missions.
- A multi-stage nuclear program with major end-state consequences.
- Named agents and foreign intelligence operations.
- Hundreds of telegrams and events with decisions, consequences and delayed callbacks.
- Relations with the United States, Soviet Union and non-aligned states.
- Detailed animated ASCII success and failure cinematics.