Secret Hitler

A Game of Deception and Strategy

Have you ever wanted to step into a world of political intrigue and deception? Look no further than Secret Hitler, a board game that challenges your ability to lie, deduce, and strategize. In this game, I have the chance to become a political leader, an investigator, or simply an ordinary citizen, all the while trying to figure out who among us is the secret Hitler.

Secret Hitler is a game that combines hidden roles, manipulation, and social deduction. Each player is assigned a secret role, either as a liberal, a fascist, or the mysterious secret Hitler. While liberals strive to pass liberal policies, the fascists, including the secret Hitler, aim to deceive their opponents and pass fascist policies instead. The ultimate goal of the liberals is to identify and eliminate the fascist players, while the fascists work to undermine the liberal players and elect the secret Hitler as the Chancellor.

The game is played over a series of rounds as policies are enacted and players vie for power. At the beginning of each round, players elect a President and a Chancellor who will collaborate to pass policies. The President chooses which policies to propose, but the Chancellor has the final say on which policy is enacted. The catch is that neither the President nor the Chancellor reveals their role, leaving room for manipulation and suspicion.

To add to the tension, there are special powers and actions that come into play. For example, the President can investigate another player’s role or even assassinate them, while the Chancellor can veto a proposed policy. These powers can be crucial in uncovering the secret Hitler or in further deceiving the other players.

The game truly tests your ability to read people, analyze their actions, and adapt your strategy accordingly. It involves not only deduction and deception but also collaboration and negotiation. How well can you navigate this complex web of politics and secrecy? Can you outsmart your opponents and lead your side to victory?

Secret Hitler is a game that sparks conversation, intrigue, and friendly arguments. It brings people together and encourages strategic thinking and social interaction. So gather your friends, choose your roles, and get ready for a thrilling game of secrecy, suspicion, and political maneuvering.

Hey there! Have you ever heard of Secret Hitler? It’s a pretty cool game where you get to play as either a liberal or a fascist. There’s even a chance you might be Hitler if you’re a fascist! The goal of the game depends on which party you belong to.

If you’re a liberal, your objective is to win the game by advancing the liberal board through the passage of liberal policies. Once you reach the end of the board, congratulations, you’ve won!

Now, if you happen to be a fascist, there are a couple of ways for you to achieve victory. You can advance the fascist board by passing fascist policies. Once the board is completely filled up, you emerge as the winner. Alternatively, you can also win by electing the player who is secretly Hitler to the chancellor position when the fascist board is halfway full.

Here’s the twist: everyone’s roles are kept secret, and although players may talk about their roles, they can never reveal their true identities. It’s all about playing the game while pretending to be liberal for as long as possible, even if you’re a fascist. Pretty interesting, right?

SETUP

To get the game ready, you’ll need the fascist board that matches the number of players and one of the liberal boards. These go in the middle of the table. Take all the policy tiles and shuffle them, then put them on the draw pile marker.

Next, set up envelopes for each player. Use the graph in the rule book to see how many fascist and liberal party cards each player needs. Grab the same number of role cards, making sure to leave one spot open for the Hitler card.

Each envelope should have a membership card, a role card, a “Ja!” card, and a “Nein!” card. Shuffle the envelopes and pass them out randomly to the players.

So, here’s how it works: each player will get a membership card and a role card to know what they need to do to win the game. But don’t show anyone, it’s a secret!

Before we start, though, there’s a script to read. It’s important because it helps certain roles recognize each other. So let’s get that out of the way first.

Let the Game Begin!

Once the script is done, we can start playing. We can choose the first president in any way we want. And then, that president will follow the instructions on their president marker.

So here’s how it works: I get to be the president and choose someone else to be the chancellor. But here’s the thing – it’s not just up to me. All the players get to secretly vote with their Ja or Nein cards on whether or not they want that person to be chancellor. If the majority says Ja, then that person becomes the chancellor and the game keeps going. But if most people say Nein, or if there’s a tie, then the chancellor isn’t elected. And that’s when we advance the election marker on the liberal board and the next player to the left becomes the new president.

This goes on until we finally have a chancellor. Once that happens, I, as the president, get to draw three policies from the pile. Then I have to discard one of them face down and give the other two to the chancellor. Now it’s the chancellor’s turn to make a choice. They have to pick one of the two policies to discard face down and one to put into action. Here’s the catch though – during this part, nobody can talk. But don’t worry, after we’re done, we can discuss what we were given and discarded. The thing is, though, none of the information we share has to be true or can be confirmed. It’s all part of the game!

When playing the game, each policy played will take effect on the corresponding spot of the appropriate board. If a policy covers a spot on the fascist board that grants a special ability, the current president is allowed to use that ability.

The game continues in this manner, with the presidency always passing to the left.

Special Rules

If the election marker reaches the end of the track on the liberal board, the top policy is revealed and put into play. This means that if players consistently try to vote down both the chancellor and the president, the liberals will most likely lose.

When it’s the president’s turn to select a chancellor, they are not allowed to choose the previous president or chancellor from the last turn.

The discarded policies are kept hidden and will be reshuffled and placed at the bottom of the draw pile when there are three or fewer policies remaining in the draw pile.

GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM

There are three possible ways the game can come to an end. For the liberals, there’s only one way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, while the fascists have two paths to triumph.

The liberals win when they manage to fill up all the policy spaces on the liberal board. As soon as they do that, game over – and the liberals are victorious!

Alternatively, the fascists can claim victory in two different ways. First, if they manage to fill up the entire fascist board with policies, they’ve won. Second, if Hitler becomes chancellor when the fascist board is half-full, the fascists win, too.