Game summary
A game for 2 – 4 players
Play time around 90 – 180 minutes
Publisher is Hegemonic Project Games
Introduction
Are you ready to climb the barricades?
The nation is in disarray, and a war is raging between the classes. The working class faces a dismantled welfare system, the capitalists are losing their hard-earned profits, the middle class is gradually fading, and the state is sinking into a deep deficit. Amidst all this chaos, the only person who can provide guidance is… you. Will you take the side of the working class and fight for social reforms? Or will you stand with the corporations and the free market? Will you help the government try to keep it all together, or will you try to enforce your agenda no matter the cost to the country?
Let’s get it on the table
The game setup changes slightly depending on the number of players. The following instructions describe how to set up the main board and most of the components.
Please note that in each player count, only some of the roles are available.
In a 2-player game, the players take on the roles of the Capitalist Class and the Working Class.
In a 3-player game, the players take on the roles of the Capitalist Class, the Working Class, and the Middle Class.
In a 4-player game, all roles are available.
Place the board in the middle of the table where everyone can reach it.
Place the 4 starting Capitalist Class Companies areas of the Private Sector on the board: Supermarket, Shopping Mall, College, and Clinic.
Take the Public Companies related to the player count. Place the 3 starting Public Companies in the first row of the Public Sector and place a marker on all 3 cards. Then place a Public Company card of each type in the second row face down, and the remaining 3 cards in the third row, also face down.
When playing with 3 or 4 players, place the 2 starting Middle Class Companies, Convenience Store, and Doctor’s Office, in the Middle Class area of the Private Sector. Place a marker on each card.
Shuffle the Business Deals deck and place it next to the board. Draw the top card and place it face up on one of the corresponding spaces.
Then shuffle the Export deck and place it next to the board. Draw the top card and place it face up on its corresponding space. Then place a marker on the middle space of the import section.
Then the Immigration deck can be shuffled and placed on its corresponding space on the board.
Place the Policy markers on the Politics table on these spaces.
There can be 120 vardis placed in the State Treasury as the State’s starting money.
Place Health tokens, Education tokens, and influence on their corresponding spaces in the Public Services area depending on the number of players.
The Round marker on the first space of the Round track and the Tax Multiple marker on 5.
Each player’s scoring marker can be placed on the 0 space of the Scoring track.
Make 3 piles of the Voting cubes based on their color and place them near the main board. Take cubes of each color related to the player count and place them in the cloth bag.
Make piles of all the resources: Food, Luxury, Health, Education, and Influence. Do the same for the money, Machinery tokens, Loan cards, Storage tiles, Strike tokens, Demonstration token, Legitimacy tokens, and the marker cubes.
Group the Working Class and Middle Class Workers by color and by type and place them near the board where the corresponding players can easily reach them.
Place the General Player Aid near the board so all players can easily have access to it.
This will make the game easier for all players.
Each player has their own setup for the different classes.
WORKING CLASS
The Working Class has workers who work in exchange for money, which they use to cover their basic needs: food, health, education, and, if possible, entertainment. This player’s goal is to cover these needs to the best extent possible, increasing their workers’ prosperity.
CAPITALIST CLASS
The Capitalist Class runs companies. Workers come to work in these companies and produce goods and services which the Capitalist Class then sells for profit. This player’s goal is to maximize their profit.
MIDDLE CLASS
The Middle Class also has workers who work in various companies, gaining income but is also able to run its own smaller companies. This player needs to find the perfect balance between producing, selling, and consuming in order to cover their workers’ needs and increase their prosperity.
STATE
Finally, the State is trying to increase its legitimacy, working hard to keep all the classes satisfied and in balance. At the same time, it tries to deal with any societal issues that arise.
Hegemony is being played over 5 rounds, each round consists of multiple phases, eash with their own steps. At the end of the 5th round, there is an Endgame step and end-game scoring is applied.
Each round is being played via the following phases;
Preparation Phase
Action Phase
Production Phase
Elections Phase
Scoring Phase
Each phase will continue when all the players has completed this phase. The turn order in each round is always:
1. Working Class
2. Middle Class
3. Capitalist Class
4. State
Final Conclusion & rating
Weight: 4.19/ 5
Replayability: 8
Our rating: 8 out of 10 dices
What a very nice and interesting asymmetric board game. Truly beautiful board game and quality components. This is one of the the best-produced game up to now, while this is a heavy game everything is really explained very well in the rulebook. Just follow along everything while playing, for the first time we also recommend that every player reads the rules or watch a how to play instruction to get along with Hegemony.
The way each faction has their own parts or components and cards is very well done. Have played the game a few times with several players, but the best is with a 4-player game. This will give the ultimate game experience which Hegemony deserves. Hegemony is a asymmetric politico-economic card-driven board game where each player has their own separate goal.
With fewer players, you are more likely to get too focused on your own faction and forget to check the others. Also, the voting system is less efficient than with the full player amount. When you play this game on a regular base, we recommend you switch with the different roles, so it doesn’t going to feel you’re doing the same thing over and over again.
Nevertheless, what a game and pleasure this gives. It’s a whole evening that’s filled with economics and politics, that will give the complete experience.
We want to thank Hegemonic Project Games for this review copy and the opportunity to write about this game.
