Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory

Hegemony is the game that has occupied us more than any other lately. In our second play, we swapped roles, and with some experience of what the game asks from each of us, the contest was much fairer and more meaningful.

This time I had the working class, and I went straight for pro-immigration. At the same time, I managed to persuade the table to keep education free. That is exactly where the interaction lies: it is not enough to watch your own position; you need to influence other players’ decisions and make them realise—preferably late—what their choices are serving.

By the time they understood that the proletariat had deceived them, it was already too late. I had built a respectable lead, and class hatred could not stop it. Perhaps it could have, if the capitalist had been a little more bloodthirsty; and that says something about how much it matters how aggressively players pursue their roles.

I now feel I have a complete opinion of it: it is a very respectable game, but the card draw is a little annoyingly random. For players who want it to feel more euro and want to pursue specific strategies without depending so heavily on the draw, I would suggest a simple variant: in the opening hand, choose one or two cards, then draw the rest.