
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,122
- BGG rating
- 7.2
13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
- 2 players
- 45 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2015

2017
Rules assistance for 13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 is a board game released in 2017 for 2 players, 13 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Asger Aleksandrov Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Campaign / Battle Card Driven.
Play the Cold War in 13 minutes. 13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis is a card-driven microgame with tough decisions. Playing as either Kennedy or Khrushchev, your aim is to exit the Cuban Missile Crisis as the most powerful superpower. During the game you play only five strategy cards that you use to place Influence on battlegrounds to score majorities or manipulate battlegrounds. Each card you play turns into a new battleground, so the "world map" is ever-changing. Be careful because each decision is important and you may trigger global nuclear war! 13 Minutes, a sequel of sorts or different take on 13 Days, builds on the classic microgame genre heralded by Love Letter, but 13M uses the card-driven game mechanism to ensure that the five cards you play each game all adds up to agonizing choices!
13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for 13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 is 13 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists 13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 belongs to these categories: Card Game, Political, and Modern Warfare. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Campaign / Battle Card Driven. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of 13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 are: Asger Aleksandrov Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists 13 Minutes: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.