Experience the Vietnam War through the eyes of an S-1 officer who observes the first few missions but never sees combat again — only the paperwork of war. Lives, morale, service time, and survival depend on your choices. Everyone is replaceable... including you.
1965, Vietnam.
You arrive at the 173rd Airborne Brigade not as a frontline fighter, but as the administrative officer responsible for keeping a platoon alive on paper.
Your decisions determine everything:
– who deploys,
– who rests,
– who gets promoted,
– who goes home,
– and who will remain forever inside a personnel file.
12 Months: Vietnam is a minimalist yet emotionally heavy, paper-based military simulation inspired by historical statistics, period-accurate organization, and real wartime casualty patterns.
Your task is simple only on paper — survive your Tour of Duty while keeping your unit combat-ready.
In reality… nothing about it is simple.

Every soldier serves a 12-month tour, with optional extensions up to 3 tours — if morale allows it.
Soldiers constantly:
– arrive
– rotate out
– get wounded
– recover
– die
– change roles
– or extend their service
You must maintain a deployable platoon at all costs.
Every decision affects morale:
– medals
– rest
– casualties
– promotions
– injuries
– deployments
Low morale collapses the entire unit.
High morale boosts survival — but nobody is bulletproof.
– Three wounds = automatic discharge
– Severe wounds = permanent removal from duty
– Every death lowers morale and adds pressure on you
Wartime cares nothing for protocol.
If a leader is needed, even a fresh replacement may be promoted instantly.
The machine must keep turning.
The entire game takes place inside the administrative reality of the platoon:
– dossiers
– reports
– assignment boards
– personnel files
– wounded and casualty logs
No combat.
No cinematics.
Just the quiet horror of paperwork in war.
► A System Built on Chain Reactions
Every choice ripples outward:
→ bad choises
→ more injuries
→ morale collapse
→ an undeployable unit
→ you are relieved from duty
Every campaign is different:
– different timings
– different casualties
– different outcomes
Infinite replayability — with a finite number of men.
The game offers:
no reload
no undo
no alternate saves
Every choice is final.
Not an action game
Not a shooter
Not a power fantasy
This is a responsibility–morale–decision simulator, depicting the most invisible yet most brutal side of war: the administrative burden of keeping a unit alive.
The game does not depict:
– civilian casualties
– graphic violence
– real historical tragedies
– war crimes
Everything occurs within fictionalized military structures.
Themes include:
– war and military loss
– stress and moral decline
– administrative pressure
– failure and monotony
No blood or graphic violence.
Flashing effects can be disabled.
12 Months: Vietnam was created by a solo indie developer with a background in law enforcement.
The goal is not to glorify war, but to reveal its unseen side — where paperwork decides who goes home and who does not.
Your Mission
– Serve your Tour of Duty
– Keep the platoon alive
– And try to keep your conscience intact