The Great Hunger

The Great Hunger from Compass Games is an accessible historical strategy game centered on the Irish Great Famine of the 19th century. Players control tenant farming families struggling through demographic growth, potato dependency, famine, disease, and mass emigration beginning in 1845.

Rather than focusing on military conquest, the game emphasizes survival, migration, and resilience during one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in Irish history. The winner is the family with the largest surviving population across Ireland and America once the blight finally subsides.

General Information

Box Contents

• 1 dual-layer mounted map
• 147 wooden pieces
• 65 cards
• 5 double-sided player mats
• 1 rulebook
• 1 six-sided die

Gameplay

The system revolves around dual-purpose cards. Early in the game, players use events to expand and strengthen their families across Ireland. Once the famine begins, those same cards shift toward survival actions such as securing aid, employment, migration opportunities, and passage to America.

The design focuses more on human survival and historical narrative than on military conflict, positioning it between an accessible historical game and a light thematic wargame.

Gameplay Feel

• Strong historical immersion
• Rarely explored historical subject
• Accessible ruleset
• Significant indirect interaction
• Emotional and narrative-driven experience

Its atmosphere is closer to modern historical narrative games than to traditional military hex-and-counter wargames.