Filibuster Meets Its Match: Game Rules
Welcome to the world of Filibuster! Are you ready to test your wordsmith skills and put your vocabulary to the ultimate test? If so, then you’ll love this exciting and challenging word game. But before we dive in, let me give you a quick rundown of the game rules.
Objective:
Your objective in Filibuster is simple – earn as many points as possible by creating words from a given set of letters. The longer the word, the more points you earn. Are you up for the challenge?
Gameplay:
In Filibuster, you will be presented with a grid of letters. Your task is to connect adjacent letters to create words. To select a letter, click on it and then drag your cursor to the next adjacent letter. You can connect letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally – the choice is yours. Once you’ve formed a word, release the mouse button to submit it and earn points.
Scoring:
The scoring in Filibuster is based on the length of the words you create. The longer the word, the more points you earn. Additionally, certain letters are worth more points than others. Keep an eye out for those high-value letters to maximize your score!
Time Limit:
In each round of Filibuster, you will have a limited amount of time to create as many words as possible. The clock is ticking, so think quickly and strategically to earn the highest score before time runs out.
Power-Ups:
To give you an extra edge, Filibuster offers a variety of power-ups. These power-ups can help you earn more points, extend your time limit, or even rearrange the letters on the grid. Use them wisely to boost your score and achieve victory!
Conclusion:
Well, there you have it – the rules of Filibuster. Are you ready to embark on this exciting word adventure? Get ready to connect, create, and conquer as you unleash your word wizardry. Good luck!
The elections are finally over, and the people have made their voices heard. It was a tough battle, and unfortunately, you and your fellow Senators ended up on the losing side. The Senate has undergone major changes, and there has been a shift of power in the White House.
Now, you find yourselves in the minority, facing a daunting challenge – a legislative agenda that threatens to disrupt the very fabric of our Democracy. It’s up to you and your colleagues to stand united and wield the most powerful tool at your disposal to block these policies – the Filibuster!
In Filibuster!, you and your friends become a team of minority Senators in the Upper Chamber of Congress, working together to combat the White House and the new majority’s aggressive push for new policies. By harnessing the power of Influence and deploying the strategic maneuver known as the Filibuster, you can prevent these policies from becoming reality.
Hey there! I want to tell you about an interesting game called “The Importance of Politics.” In this game, each policy is like a round of play, and it has two important phases: the Bidding Phase and the Filibuster Phase.
The Game Pieces
- 20 Tarot-sized Policy Cards
- 24 Poker-sized Time Deck Cards
- 58 Poker-sized Action Deck Cards
- 5 Tarot-sized Player Reference Cards
- 5.5″ x 8.5″ Game Board
- 30 One-Influence Tokens, 20 Five-Influence Tokens, 10 Ten-Influence Tokens
- 1 Failed Vote Token
- 5 Aye/Nay Tokens
- 5 Election Tokens
- 1 Difficulty Tracker Token
- 1 Time Tracker Token
- 1 Senate Minority Leader Marker Meeple
- 1 Supporting Senator Marker Pawn
- 1 60-second Sandtimer
- 8″x10″ Rules sheet
Object of the Game
Hey there! Let me tell you about this exciting game you can play. In the game, your goal is to stop a certain number of policies from being passed by filibustering. But what’s filibustering, you ask? Well, it’s a fancy term for using long speeches to delay or block decisions in a voting process. So here’s your challenge: you need to successfully block four out of seven policies by filibustering for a specific amount of time. Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it? Let’s dive in and get started!
When it comes to the Filibuster, there are two main players involved. You have the Senate Minority Leader, who actively works on the Filibuster, and you have the other players, who support the Filibuster through special actions and gain influence behind the scenes. It’s like a game, where everyone has their role to play.
In this game, there are 7 rounds that need to be completed. But here’s the catch – if the players fail to block 4 policies at any point, it’s game over. That means all of the players lose, and the game comes to an end. So, it’s important for everyone to work together and stay on top of things!
However, if the players manage to stop the majority’s policy agenda from moving forward and successfully block those policies, then the minority Senator who has gained the most influence during the game is the true winner. It’s a thrilling race to see who can gather the most influence and come out on top!
Game Elements
Let me explain the different components that make up this game.
Policy Peck – This is the list of policies proposed by the current White House and the Senators who have the majority. As players, our goal is to prevent these policies from being implemented.
Time Peck – The Senate Minority Leader is in charge of this deck. It determines the length of each round and contains cards that can keep the game going, reduce your influence, stop the filibuster, and occasionally help you out.
Action Peck – These are the cards that we, as players, use to prolong the filibuster, gain influence within our party, and assist the Senate Minority Leader in their efforts.
Influence Tokens – These tokens are used during the Bidding Phase to determine who will be the Senate Minority Leader for each round after the first.
When the game ends and four or more policies are blocked, the player with the most Influence is the winner. Influence comes in three values: 1, 5, and 10.
The Filibuster, Difficulty, and Voting Game Mat with Tokens keep track of the progress of each Filibuster, the round difficulty, and the voting mechanic.
Every player receives an “Aye” and “Nay” card to use when voting on the voluntary ending of Filibusters.
Setting Up
To set up the game, begin by shuffling the Policy Deck. Then, deal 7 policies, facedown, in the center of the play area. The first row should have 4 policies, and the second row should have 3.
Next, place 3 Influence on the 5th policy, 5 Influence on the 6th policy, and 7 Influence on the 7th policy. Finally, shuffle the Action card deck and deal 4 cards to each player.
When we start playing the game, everyone gets a few things. You get three influence tokens, and you also get an “Aye” card and a “Nay” card. These cards are used to vote on policies and make decisions. We need to make sure the game mat is set up correctly, so let’s put it in the play area below the policies. The Time Deck and Action decks go on either side of the mat.
Now, let’s flip over the policy proposal in the first slot. This card is now “in play” and ready for us to discuss and vote on. We’re going to have a bidding phase to decide who gets to be the Senate Minority Leader for the first round. But for now, we’re going to skip that phase and just say that the last person to visit Washington, D.C. will be the Senate Minority Leader. If we can’t figure out who that is, we’ll just randomly choose someone to be the Senate Minority Leader.
The Filibuster Phase: Playing Politics
Every Filibuster Phase starts with shuffling the Time Deck. The more successful the minority has been, the harder the round becomes.
For the initial difficulty, the minority Senators need to endure a Filibuster for 6 hours. Each successful Filibuster makes it even tougher, raising the minimum time needed by 3 hours.
If a Filibuster fails, the difficulty for the next round remains the same. However, the challenge cannot exceed 24 hours. Keep track of the round difficulty using the Filibuster Track.
The action begins with the Senate Minority Leader. On their turn, they start by playing a card from the Time Deck.
After that, the Senate Minority Leader must play an action card from their hand to prolong the ongoing Filibuster, as long as it hasn’t been halted by the Time Deck.
When you play a card in the Filibuster, the length of the Filibuster increases by the value shown in the upper left corner of the card. But what happens if the Senate Minority Leader has no cards, or only has cards with the Assist keyword? Well, in that case, they forfeit the opportunity to play a card.
Keep track of the progress of the Filibuster with the Filibuster Track. It will show you how far along you are in the Filibuster each round.
After the Senate Minority Leader finishes their turn, it’s time for the next player, who is seated to their left, to play. Here’s an important note: when a new Filibuster Phase begins, the new Senate Minority Leader starts the round, and play resumes where the last round left off (with the player who was next in line).
If the new Senate Minority Leader happened to be the next player in line, then play continues as usual, passing to the player on their left.
When it’s my turn as a Minority Senator, I don’t get to pick a card from the Time Deck. Instead, I start by grabbing a card from the Action Deck. After that, I have a few options:
- I can draw an extra Action Card
- I can play an Action Card with the Assist Keyword
- I can pass a non-assist Action Card to the Senate Minority Leader
I’m only allowed to play action cards with the Assist keyword. I can’t play cards that directly make the Filibuster longer for the Senate Minority Leader.
If I choose to play an action card with the Assist keyword, I earn Influence tokens based on the star’s value in the top left corner of the card. All I have to do is follow the instructions on the card when I play an Assist.
When I, as a minority senator, pass a card to the Senate Minority Leader, I gain influence equal to the value displayed on the clock in the upper left portion of the card.
The Senate Minority Leader always starts the Filibuster Phase, and after each minority senator’s turn, the responsibility returns to the Senate Minority Leader. Let’s say we have a 4-player game with players A, B, C, and D, and “A” is the Senate Minority Leader:
A B A C A D A B A C A D A, and so on.
We keep playing the Filibuster until we draw a card from the Time Deck that signals the end, or until there are no more Time Cards to draw. If we successfully reach the maximum Filibuster time of 24 hours, the Filibuster immediately ends in our favor.
After we end the Filibuster, we should check if it was successful. In other words, we need to see if the length of the Filibuster is greater than or equal to the Round Difficulty.
If the Filibuster was successful, we block the policy. We need to turn the Policy card so that the Reward is on the bottom. By doing this, we are stopping the Majority’s agenda! And guess what? You get the Reward described on the Policy card.
But if the Filibuster failed, it means the policy is enacted. In this case, we need to turn the Policy card so that the Setback is on the bottom. This means there will be consequences! Players will have to deal with a Setback as described on the card, and they need to implement it immediately.
At the end of the phase, the Senate Minority Leader gets influence equal to the length of the Filibuster, regardless of the outcome. And don’t worry, you get to keep any cards or tokens that you have in your possession. There’s no limit to how many you can have!
Voting: Ending the Filibuster
When it’s my turn, I can try to put an end to a Filibuster by calling for a vote, but I can only do this twice in each round.
Before casting our votes, we can talk to each other and share our thoughts by showing our “Aye” or “Nay” cards at the same time. However, I, as the Senate Minority Leader, must always vote “Aye” when initiating the vote.
Remember, for the vote to pass, all of us must vote “Aye”! It has to be a unanimous decision!
This is the only time when we can make deals or offer incentives to other players to get their votes. We can trade cards or use our influence to convince our fellow senators. But remember, we can’t use the promise of changing turn order as a way to persuade others.
If you say “yes” to something, the filibuster stops right there, and you win! But there’s a catch – if you win, you don’t get any reward for that round. And the leader of the smaller group in the Senate gets half of the influence they earned, rounding it up to the nearest whole number.
If you say “no” to something, you get influence equal to the policy round. Then the game goes on as usual.
You can only use this option twice in the game. After that, it’s no longer available.
Bidding Phase – Snap Elections
Once a Policy is either passed or defeated, a new round begins. This is where “snap elections” take place to determine the new Senate Minority Leader. It also marks the start of the Bidding Phase.
At the beginning of each round, we go through a bidding phase to decide who will be the Senate Minority Leader and have the responsibility (and glory!) of the upcoming Filibuster. The previous Senate Minority Leader initiates the opening bid.
During this phase, each player has the opportunity to bid influence tokens in order to become the next Senate Minority Leader. Alternatively, you can choose to pass and save your influence for later use.
Bidding goes around in a clockwise direction until every player has passed consecutively. If you pass initially and the bidding comes back to you, you have the option to pass again or place a bid.
When it’s your turn to make a bid, you’ll have a chance to become the Senate Minority Leader and have the power to Filibuster the active policy. But first, let me explain how the bidding process works.
Each player will make an influence bid, which means spending their political influence to gather votes. Keep in mind that even if you spend all your influence, it might not be enough to win the election.
Once all players have passed consecutively after the last bid is placed, the player with the highest bid becomes the Senate Minority Leader. Congratulations if that’s you!
The influence bids made by all players are paid to the Treasury. So even if you don’t become the leader, your influence still counts towards the votes.
After the bids have been paid, the next policy is revealed. This indicates that the policy is now in play.
If you’re starting the 5th, 6th, or 7th round, the elected Senate Minority Leader will also earn the influence reward that was placed with the policy at the end of the Filibuster Phase.
So remember, make your bids wisely and gather those votes to become the influential Senate Minority Leader!
I’ll tell you what happens next, except for the person who became the new Senate Minority Leader. If you have less than 4 cards in your hand, you can draw cards from the Action Card deck until you have 4 cards in your hand.
After that, it’s time to start playing in the next Filibuster phase.