NukeZone was the winner of the Multiplayer Online Game Directory's game of the month award in June 2002 and November 2005, an award that can only be won once yearly per game.

History

NukeZone was started in 2001, by Swede Stefan Karlström (nicknamed Guffy). The game, particularly in its early incarnations in regards to available military units, was highly influenced by the 1996 bestseller Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Despite common perceptions, Stefan is quick to point out that NukeZone was never a school project. Since its creation, it has grown quickly, starting with a meagre few thousand members in 2002 to 35,000 members in 2006. Each round of the game is about three months long, game changes are usually introduced in the pause between rounds, a pause which varies from one to four weeks.

Gameplay

Each player gets their own \"province\" once they register for the game. Once registered they will choose a starting bonus out of a choice of seven to begin the game. New provinces are in nuke protection for 48 hours. During nuke protection players cannot make attacks or be attacked. Nuke protection is also used for all players at the beginning of each round and for players who have died and will have to restart.

To maintain the balance of the game each player is given three turns every hour, which they use to perform in game actions such as attacking provinces and buying units.

Units

There are many units available in NukeZone, which add to the logistical value of the game. Units are divided into categories of sea, air, vehicle, and infantry, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Out of the number of units, there are some who are used for specific strategies, like the \"building-killing\" units, which are the B-2 Stealth Bomber and the Heavy Artillery. Building killers attack only buildings and have a large advantage in clan wars for killing provinces. There are also \"unit-killing\" units, which make up the large majority of units. These are used normally in combination with other units and are efficient in \"pointing\" for most point-focused clans. There are other units as well such as the Aurora Spy Plane, which spy on enemy buildings, being particularly useful when seeing what defense buildings a province has if you plan to attack them. Thieves are used for thieving money from provinces, which is another highly used tactical strategy. Efficiency in thieving comes through many strategies, much of which comes through sheer experience.