| Theatre Europe | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Personal Software Services |
| Publisher(s) | Personal Software Services |
| Designer(s) | Alan Steel Sean Pearce David Bolton |
| Series | Strategic Wargames |
| Platform(s) | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Einstein |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Theatre Europe is a turn-based strategy video game developed and published by Personal Software Services (PSS). It was first released in the United Kingdom for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Atari 8-bit computers in 1985. It was later released in France by ERE Informatique in 1986, and was released in the United States by Datasoft later that year. A port for the Tatung Einstein was released in 1989, in the UK. It is the fifth installment of the Strategic Wargames series.
The game is set during a fictional war in Europe between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, in which both sides use nuclear and chemical weapons. The developers used information and statistics on military strength from the Ministry of Defence and the Soviet embassy in London. The objective is to fight conventional battles in continental Europe, whilst trying to avoid a worldwide nuclear holocaust. During the game, capital cities and their civilian populations are destroyed by nuclear weapons. The game ends once either side is forced to surrender or if the entire population of Europe perishes. To request a nuclear strike, the player was required to call a dedicated telephone number to hear an automated message giving the authorisation code.
Theatre Europe was criticized by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and The Sun newspaper. Some high street retail chains refused to sell the game upon release. The game received critical acclaim for its accuracy, playability and value for money. It won the "Best Strategy Game" award at the 1985 Golden Joystick Awards and was nominated for "Game of the Year".
PSS released a 16-bit follow-up game in 1989, Conflict: Europe.[1][2]
- ^ Railton, Ken (October 1989). "Games - Conflict Europe". ST Format. No. 3. Future plc. p. 74.
- ^ Rignall, Julian (August 1989). "Review - Conflict in Europe [sic]". Computer and Video Games. No. 93. Future plc. p. 74.