diff --git a/man/files.1 b/man/files.1
index 5dda7631..4fafc128 100644
--- a/man/files.1
+++ b/man/files.1
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ files \- Empire file initialization
 [
 .BI \-e\ configfile
 ]
+[
+.BI \-f
+]
 .br
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .I files
@@ -22,3 +25,6 @@ causes
 to use the game configuration specified in 
 .I configfile
 (by default, the file "econfig" in the data directory is used)
+.TP
+.BI \-f
+Clobber existing game data without asking for confirmation.
diff --git a/src/util/files.c b/src/util/files.c
index 738a5b40..a670c912 100644
--- a/src/util/files.c
+++ b/src/util/files.c
@@ -82,13 +82,17 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     extern char *optarg;
     int opt;
     char *config_file = NULL;
-
+    int force = 0;
+    
 #if !defined(_WIN32)
-    while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "e:")) != EOF) {
+    while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "e:f")) != EOF) {
 	switch (opt) {
 	case 'e':
 	    config_file = optarg;
 	    break;
+	case 'f':
+	    force = 1;
+	    break;
 	}
     }
 #endif
@@ -111,12 +115,14 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	printf("Can't make game directory\n");
 	exit(1);
     }
-    printf("WARNING: this blasts the existing game in %s (if any)\n",
+    if (!force) {
+    	printf("WARNING: this blasts the existing game in %s (if any)\n",
 	   datadir);
-    printf("continue? ");
-    fgets(buf, sizeof(buf) - 1, stdin);
-    if (*buf != 'y' && *buf != 'Y')
-	exit(1);
+    	printf("continue? ");
+    	fgets(buf, sizeof(buf) - 1, stdin);
+    	if (*buf != 'y' && *buf != 'Y')
+  	    exit(1);
+    }
     for (i = 0; i < EF_MAX; i++) {
 	if (ef_open(i, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0) < 0) {
 	    perror("ef_open");