The Great Hunger

From the Publisher:

Our journey begins at the dawn of the 19th century. A new crop has revolutionized farming in Ireland, allowing people to raise enough food for their whole family on just a small, rocky plot of land. The nation’s population expands dramatically, as your family grows and prospers…thanks to the humble potato.

But history is no fairy tale.

In 1845, the blight arrives, unleashing complete and utter devastation on the potato harvest. Dependence on a single variety and growing on marginal land poured fuel on the fire, and famine and disease soon spread through the island. British economic policy discourages assistance, but help will arrive, often from unexpected sources. Some will find work in new industries or on the ever-expanding English Estates. Millions more will emigrate, booking passage on dangerous “coffin ships” to other lands.

In The Great Hunger, 2-5 players will represent families of tenant farmers and field hands. At first, your people will grow, using the events on the top half of your cards to help your family expand across the map. When the blight arrives, you’ll use the events on the bottom half to save as many as you can, finding them aid or employment in Ireland, or scrambling to ports to secure passage to America.

Victory is survival. When the blight finally abates (blight abates card), the family with the largest surviving population across Ireland and America will be deemed the winner. This game tells a tale of human perseverance in the face of extreme challenges. The famine was a defining moment in Ireland’s history and made its mark on the US and other countries as well. Today, it is remembered by the Irish people as An Gorta Mór – The Great Hunger.

Product Information:

• • Complexity: Low (3 out of 10)
  • Time Scale: 1 Turn=Months to Years
  • Map Scale: Strategic Areas (1 County Each)
  • Number of Players: 2-5
  • Suitability for Solitaire: Medium
  • Average Time to Play: 60-90 minutes
  • Recommended Age: 14+

Components:

• 1 17″x 22″ Dual-Layered Mounted Map
• 147 Wooden Pieces
• 65 Cards
• 5 Double-Sided Player Mats
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Six-Sided Die

Experience a profound chapter of 19th-century history in The Great Hunger, a highly evocative card-driven board game published by Compass Games. Designed by Jerry Shiles and Kevin McPartland for 2 to 5 players, this strategic historical title plays out in an accessible 60 to 90 minutes. Players guide families of tenant farmers and itinerant field hands through a dramatic, two-part narrative shift. The game begins during a period of population expansion fueled by the potato harvest, allowing players to place population blocks across Ireland using the top halves of their cards. However, once the devastating potato blight strikes, the struggle shifts entirely to survival and preservation. Use the bottom halves of your cards to secure aid, find employment, or scramble to ports for passage to America. Face the grim realities of the Great Famine in a unique simulation where victory is measured purely by human survival.

A Tabletop Exploration of An Gorta Mór

Immerse yourself in a defining and deeply emotional moment of global history with The Great Hunger, a strategic historical board game published by Compass Games. Subtitled Ireland's Tragedy in the 19th Century, this unique title explores the complex social, economic, and human dynamics surrounding the Great Famine, remembered by the Irish people as An Gorta Mór. Moving away from traditional military wargaming, this game challenges players to step into the shoes of vulnerable populations, illustrating a harrowing tale of human perseverance, political failure, and survival in the face of absolute catastrophe.

Two-Phase Card-Driven Gameplay

Designed by the duo of Kevin McPartland and Jerry Shiles, The Great Hunger features an easy-to-learn card-driven mechanic split across two distinct structural phases. The game smoothly accommodates 2 to 5 players, with each participant representing a localized clan of tenant farmers and itinerant field hands striving to sustain themselves across the counties of Ireland.

• The Golden Era Expansion: The first half of the game simulates the initial agricultural boom of the early 1800s. Driven by the prolific potato crop, players use the events printed on the top half of their cards to grow, prosper, and deploy wooden population blocks onto empty counties across the map.
• The Coming of the Blight: The structural momentum shifts instantly when a player draws the "The Blight Arrives" card. The card is permanently removed, a portion of the deck is excised, and the remaining unplayed population blocks are discarded. Suddenly, the game pivots from expansion to desperate damage control. Players must now spend their turns resolving the bottom half of their event cards to keep their families alive, moving them toward scarce employment, seeking internal aid, or making the treacherous trek to port cities to board "coffin ships" heading for America.

Victory and Historical Replayability

A session of The Great Hunger takes roughly 60 to 90 minutes to play out, concluding abruptly when the "Blight Abates" card is drawn from the depleted deck. Rather than conquering territory or gathering wealth, victory is determined entirely by survival: the player with the largest total surviving population split across both Ireland and America wins.

The game includes a beautifully mounted map, 147 custom wooden components, and historical event cards outlining British economic policies, relief efforts, and cultural shifts. While the game does not feature a dedicated solitaire ruleset, its transparent card resolution and area-movement map afford a medium suitability for solo wargamers and history enthusiasts looking to run multi-handed play.

BOARDGAMEGENERAL ADVICE

Staff Expert Review & Recommendation

Here at Boardgamegeneral, we closely follow historical simulation games that dare to tackle sensitive, non-military subject matters. The Great Hunger by Compass Games is an incredibly unique piece of design that prioritizes social history and human struggle over battlefield maneuvers.

This game is an excellent choice for enthusiasts of light-to-medium historical games, educational simulations, or classic card-driven systems like Freedom: The Underground Railroad. Its greatest strength lies in its stark, mechanical shift; the sudden arrival of the potato blight brilliantly conveys a feeling of impending dread as your focus snaps from thriving growth to desperate emergency evacuation.

However, players should approach this title knowing it handles a very dark and harrowing historical tragedy, which has generated significant conversation within the community regarding the gamification of human suffering. Mechanically, the reliance on sudden card draws means a bad run of event luck can rapidly decimate your population blocks, which might frustrate pure strategy purists. With low rule complexity (rated 3 out of 10 by the publisher), it is highly accessible for beginners and intermediate players alike, though the heavy historical subject matter makes it best suited for mature audiences.

Verdict: We recommend The Great Hunger as a fascinating, low-complexity historical simulation. It serves as a striking educational tool and a somber reflection on human resilience during a tragic era.