There are plenty of board games that can take hours to complete, and anyone who’s tried playing Monopoly with a big group will know that it can be enjoyable until one or more players begin to lose their patience. But one cult board game makes even the most stressful games of Monopoly look like child’s play.
Campaign for North Africa, a war simulator that was released in the late 1970s, has resurfaced online, drawing attention for one remarkable fact: completing a single playthrough is estimated to take more than 1,500 hours. That’s nearly two months of non-stop play, not counting a single break.
This game was designed as an ultra-detailed re-creation of the World Wwar II North African campaign – this detail is so extreme that rules even account for the Italian army’s need to carry extra water for cooking pasta.
Campaign for North Africa requires up to 10 players, with each one assigned specific roles to manage logistics, supplies, and combat manoeuvres for the war effort.
There are plenty of board games out there that are notorious for lengthy instructions and drawn-out play times, but this game has become infamous for being a game that “you’ll never finish.”
In the decades since the game’s release, it has garnered something of a cult status, although it remains unclear if anyone has actually completed it.
Some who have attempted the game have claimed that the preparation time is about as long as it takes most board games to finish.
Other game experts even suggest that the play time is longer than the 1,500 hours recorded on the box, with The Gamer claiming players need at least 1,800 hours, which may allow for some rest time in between turns
Graham Scutt, managing director of tabletop game retailer Loaded Dice says: “Tabletop game players are used to lengthy campaigns, with Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer 40,000 games taking 4-5 hours and sometimes spreading across weeks or months. However, not many will be prepared for the months of gameplay required for Campaign for North Africa.
“The game’s cult status means many have likely started it, aiming to tick it off their list of completed games, but it’s generally believed that nobody has actually seen the game through to the end.”