As a con based in Washington, DC, WashingCon's community is home to policy and international relations wonks who play and design tabletop games. Among these individuals, we were especially proud to have Jason Matthews attend WashingCon 2 as a presenter at panels and special guest. A former Senate staffer and government relations expert, Jason is best known for co-creating GMT's award-winning game Twilight Struggle, which uses the political and military developments in the Cold War as the backdrop for two-players to compete as the United State or the Soviet Union. Jason has also co-designed other games that have focused on history and politics such as 1989: Dawn of Freedom, 1960: Making of the President, and, most recently, Sola Fide: The Reformation.

In addition to participating on the Future of Game Design Panel, Jason also had an opportunity to sit down for an interview with WashingCon’s resident policy and international relations expert, Cris Ramón. Take a listen below to hear Jason discuss the origins of Twilight Struggle, the manner that he fuses mechanics with history and politics, and his approach to selecting political and the intersection between hobby gaming and military wargaming. WashingCon would like to thank Jason for supporting our work.