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| Genres | Board game |
|---|---|
| Players | 1－4（can extend to 9 when using two boxes of games） |
| Playing time | 80 minutes |
| Age range | 15+ |
| Skills | |
| Reversed Front | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 逆統戰：致地與海的革命者 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 逆统战：致地与海的革命者 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Reversed Front: Bonfire | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 逆統戰：烽火 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Reversed Front: Dear Revolutionaries (Chinese: 逆統戰：致地與海的革命者) is a board game created by ESC Taiwan (Chinese: 臺灣境外戰略溝通工作小組) in 2020.[1] The game involves roleplaying as different underground factions in East Asia opposed to the rise of the People's Liberation Army.
A mobile version of the game, Reversed Front: Bonfire (Chinese: 逆統戰：烽火) was launched in April 2025. On 5 June of the same year, it was banned in Hong Kong for violating the territory's national security law.[2]
More than NT$20 million was raised during the board game’s initial crowdfunding stage, sparking interest from the gaming community.[3]
In the game, players can roleplay different factions in the East Asia region.
| Available authority | Source position of initiation | Specialty |
|---|---|---|
| Red Force | Beijing | Strongest in strength and capability. With special power to distract others in game, but is surrounded from all directions, hence requires careful planning of power distribution. |
| Taiwan | Taipei | With abundant resources and ability in terms of supporting others. However, internal conflict is severe especially with regards to appeasing China. The Red Force can exploit this vulnerability to attack Taiwan from the inside. |
| Hong Kong | Victoria | Good at forming organizations, finding external assistance, and spreading information. Can migrate authority to places like Taiwan, United Kingdom, the United States, etc. |
| Tibet | Dharamsala / Dehradun / Chushul | Maintains close relations with India and receives substantial Indian support. Has two strategic options: the Central Tibetan Administration, which cannot use force but excels in propaganda; or groups like Four Rivers and Six Ranges and the Special Frontier Force, which rely on Indian backing and are more militant, able to confront the Red Army. |
| Uyghurs | Istanbul/Almaty/Munich/Washington, D.C. | Skilled at using military strength to destroy enemy operations, but less capable of establishing organized movements within the Great Firewall (i.e., inside China). |
| Manchuria | Tokyo/San Francisco/Vladivostok | Enjoys greater freedom, with the option of collaborating with various foreign allies (East Asia, Anglo-American powers, or Europe), allowing for diverse strategies. |
| Kazakhs | Almaty | Representing both Eastern and Western Turkic Kazakhs, they possess a unique victory condition—the "Three Districts Revolution." Their potential for development is stronger outside the firewall, with more flexible tactics. |
| Mongolia | Ulanbaatar/Tokyo/New York City | Backed by Russia and in direct confrontation with the Red Army. Excels in stronghold warfare, particularly in blocking enemy actions during territorial conflicts. |
| Anti-CCP Dissidents | Based in various Chinese cities depending on the faction | A vast array of groups including reformists, republicans, federalists, neo-leftists, Falun Gong, democracy activists, gender revolutionaries, underground churches, as well as regionalist movements from areas like Wan, Wu-Yue, and Bashu, and ethnic groups like Hui and Miao. Though confined in hostile territory and with limited mobility, they can share networks and mutually support each other with Taiwanese and Hong Kong organizations. |
Players roleplaying as Taiwan can decide on multiple routes for global diplomatic development:
Chinese state media outlet Global Times ran an article criticizing the game for supporting the Taiwanese and Hong Kong independence movements, citing this as a potential threat to the healthy development of teenagers as well as China's one country, two systems principle. ESC Taiwan published a Facebook post in response, sarcastically congratulating their supporters for having successfully forced Chinese state media to rebuke the game. Commenters replied with remarks such as "a nation of 1.4 billion threatened by a board game" and "thankful to the free advertisements of Global Times".[9][10] It was later reported that the game had been sold for some 1000 RMB a piece in the Chinese black market.[11]
On 5 June 2025, Hong Kong invoked its national security law against Reversed Front: Bonfire, making it the first mobile game to be banned by the law. Authorities told residents who had downloaded the app to uninstall it immediately, but when asked refused to provide more detail.[2][12][13] The ban led to international media coverage and boosted the popularity of the game due to the Streisand effect, as shortly after the ban, the game became the most searched term on Google among Hong Kong inhabitants.[14][15][16]
