ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the various ways in which areas may be controlled, defended, blocked, and moved through, as well as the properties of the areas themselves and how they can impact players who control them. Wargaming is a thread that runs through much of boardgame design, and indeed, modeling conflicts through games remains a popular genre. Area control games are more common in the American design school, but over time, European designers have brought indirect conflict and rapid resolution concepts into the space. The Zone of Control (ZOC) has been a staple of conflict games since the 1960s. It allows the designer to reduce the unit density and to still allow players to form lines with gaps that enemies cannot simply move through without consequence. In the basic ZOC, units must stop when moving adjacent to enemy units, and are required to attack.
