The game
South Africa is, in my opinion, the worst game that
SPI ever shipped in their magazine
Strategy & Tactics. This is not my opinion alone; it is shared by many people on
rec.games.board and the
Feedback results.
But this is not a fun turkey, like Plan 9 From Outer Space. No, this is more like the dreadful catastrophe of Waterworld. The glitz is there, but who cares? Just as with a soaked Kevin Costner, you're left looking at the SPI crew and asking, "What were they thinking?"
SA was published in Strategy & Tactics #62 by SPI, in May 1977. Designed/Developed by Hardy/Simonsen. Brad Hessel wrote the historical article South Africa: The Death of Colonialism.
A major fan complaint was the game's victory conditions. Most wargames have clear, defined ways to win: take this hex, destroy 40% of the enemy, hold on for 10 turns. But, true to contemporary events and the historical outcome, South Africa had no conditions. The game just keeps going on and on until one side walks away from the table. Amusingly enough, this is what eventually happened.
My personal experience with the game is as follows. I unfolded the gorgeous full-color map (RAS outdid himself again) and punched out the chits and placed them in their starting hexes. I read the rules. And I could not for the life of me figure out what to do. The unit density was very low, and the goals I was supposed to be striving for too obscure.
Sorry, SPI. Although Tito comes close, this game is in uncontested control of last place.