Hegemony: Lead Your Class To Victory Review - A Strongly Asymmetric Economic Game

[@vbagiartakis]

Thank you for the honest review and the constructive criticism! It helps us become better and we always take such feedback into consideration. Just one comment regarding the 2-player version: It was very important to us, right from the start, to make sure that the game plays great in all player counts, especially as a 2-player game. To that end, we've actually worked pretty hard (and I believe we've succeeded) to make the 2-player experience stand out on its own. It could even work as just a 2-player game, without the other 2 roles! :) So, players should not feel like they are missing something if they can't play it with more people. The experience is still there and the game delivers all that it promises. Of course, we understand that, since there are 2 more roles in the game, people will want to try them as well. Luckily, the support we've gotten from the backers has been tremendous and it has allowed us to offer Automas for the Capitalist Class and the Working Class, which will allow you to play 3 different types of solo or, when playing with another player, to try all the available roles! Thank you once again!

[@dultanur]

Thanks for the explanation. As a mainly 2 player family, this is very important for me. Good luck on the KS!

[@readilium3432]

Board Game Bollocks says hello!!! Lol

[@icevariable9600]

I have feedback, for what it’s worth. - “Workers” and “Population” should be printed on the cardboard player mats. We made the mistake of thinking the number of workers actually WAS the population, because why would it be otherwise. If it was printed on the board, that would have helped. - It is not explicitly stated that “Requirement” section of the Working Class cards actually require the “Policy Markers” to be in those alphanumeric sections. The tutorial we watched explained it exactly the opposite way it should go.Yet, even when referring to the rules, it wasn’t explicitly stated. And yes, when dealing with a behemoth such as this, we need the rules to be spoon fed to us. We just played our first game tonight. The 80 min tutorial took us 2.5 hours to get through, and just 3 rounds of the game lasted us over 5 hours; albeit we did get distracted with discussions of politics as well as wondering how in the hell you guys even came up with this game. - I was the working class. I pulled very few skilled workers through out the game. I didn’t get the chance to make a union. I was dead in the water. The Working Class player should be able to buy workers to get them to work. - Lastly, the cards stick together.

[@matta414]

Thank you for the review, it really helps me understand what this game will entail. I agree, I can already see that this would be a game that I wouldn't play as much as I'd like (although I could say that about most of my games). That said, I think I'm going to get this one. This theme is just spot on for me right now - I always look for themes that aren't well represented in my collection and, in this case, my high school age daughters are questioning the structure and benefits of capitalism.

[@stevenjudd2383]

I’ve been waiting for this one

[@BoardGameCo]

:)

[@Pharune616]

Great review, thanks. I will definitely consider backing this one. Thanks for taking the time to get the pronunciation of the name correct as well!

[@elqord.1118]

God I’d love if we could get more games like this

[@BoardGameCo]

This one is doing well...so we might :)

[@nicolaithorning]

Thank you for an honest review. I am totally in love with the idea of this game, but my gaming group is only three people and two of them have already said no.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yep, that would make it hard to table.

[@JohnClem56]

This game definitely has a lot of things that make me really interested in it. While having very asymmetric factions like Root, I find the theme of this more compelling and, at least on the surface, the interaction / overlap of what each faction is trying to achieve sounds more intriguing than the area control of Root. However, I think you hit the nail on the head -- this is very likely a game that I want to play way more than I'll ever actually play... 🙁 Have to really consider the complexity of the teach, game length, need for 4 consistent players, and need to have multiple plays and understanding of all the factions. These are likely to seriously impact the ability to really get the best out of this game. Because of that, I'll have to pass for now.

[@Groovestonenz]

Looks like they're going to have versions for multiple player counts.

[@ACGalaga]

I can’t stop thinking about this game after playing 2 rounds the other day. Loved it! Real strange playing a game about getting jobs and paying your taxes, though… You make a great point about “It’s a game I think I’ll want to play more than I’ll actually get to play.” With the AI for the other factions and the Historical expansion, have your thoughts on this changed any? For me… I may be happy with thinking about it and playing it when I can. But I’m still deciding on backing it or not. Lead designer worked on another of my favorite games “Pursuit of Happiness” which is another push for me to back this.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yep, really solid but hard to table :) Ai wouldn't change my opinion, I'm not a fan of autonoma in games.

[@Groovestonenz]

So excited for this game. I bought Shasn and Shasn: Azadi earlier this year, and think together with Hegemony will compliment each other nicely.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yes, solid overlap in the feel of the games if not mechanics.

[@pawnstorminreno]

Good first look. I'm passing on this one. Your thoughts mirrored my own after my initial intrigue. I will have to teach this many times and won't enjoy at less than 4 players I don't think.

[@BoardGameCo]

It's a great game for sure, I just have concerns about tabling it.

[@danbrown679]

When I heard about this game, I was instantly intrigued considering it a an alternative to Root with less area control and with a unique theme. This review is very thoughtful and touches on many of the concerns I have (faction balance, player interaction, luck v strategy) . My game group is divided mostly skewing to multiple plays of light filler games and a every 3rd or 4th time we tend to introduce a newer game with a bit more complexity. I am glad you brought up "the teach" on Root, because that seems to be at our limit I am interested to hear whether you consider the teach/faction complexity to be more/less/same as Root. Does this game solve the "gang up on the leader" mentality. In the end, I think I may just want to like this game because of the theme (similar to liking Root because of the art), but I am not sure it will get to the table and am wondering if it offers a unique enough experience. I am new to the whole kickstarter backing, but I am still strongly considering this because I do not imagine such a niche game will come to retail. I will have to wait for your "Back or Not to Back" review. Thanks very much.

[@larrye]

Pretty much the same things I was thinking. A good alternative to Root is Heroes of Land Air and Sea.

[@RicardoMoreno-dv7it]

This game has nothing whatsoever in common with Root except that it's assymetric, so I wouldn't take the comparison much further than that. I playtested it a couple of times and I don't think it's very easy to gang up on the leader without shooting yourself in the foot. For example, as the Working class, if you want to mess with the Capitalist you can choose to not work at his companies or not pay for his goods, but if he's offering the best wages and the cheapest goods, well... you're gonna miss out. And if he's NOT offering good wages or cheap goods, then you might as well look elsewhere regardless of his score. I think it's a super fun game, very unique and thought-inspiring, but yeah, long and a bit of a brainburner. Which is fine by me, but may not appeal to everybody.

[@Carsten_de_1981]

I like your general overview. I would recommend to show the example turn earlier.

[@BoardGameCo]

Thanks :) And noted.

[@icevariable9600]

This game is NOT for fair weather gamers. This is a serious, complex behemoth of a game. But…once you wrap your head around it, it all comes together. We just played a 2 game session tonight. The 80 minute tutorial took us about 2.5 hours to get through. The game itself lasted about 5 hours, and we only finished 3 rounds. But we felt we had a good understanding of the game. I HIGHLY suggest learning with the video tutorial. I forgot which one we did, but he was pretty good. Though he made one mistake that sent us in a triggered tail spin, but we persevered. Only played once so far, but I think it’s a good game that offers lots of variability. I would buy again and suggest it to others.

[@jackdillon5903]

Tom Vasel pronounced it the same incorrect way in his review. It's a natural mistake since English. words tend to stress the 2nd last syllable. Nice review. I bought this game and can hopefully find the time and players for it now!

[@BoardGameCo]

Thanks!

[@maeganwomble781]

Solid review - I will pass on this. It was very helpful to hear your opinion on the accessibility. I hate teaching games, especially long ones, and I lack a core group. IF I can bring my family to the table (and that's a big if) they will lack the attention span for this. At most I would get to play this once with them and then shelve it forever. Thanks for the review, as always!

[@ScytheNoire]

Very interested in this game. The theme is something different.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yes! Very unique

[@frankndice]

Saw this game at my flgs and instantly picked it up. I’m an area control/take that player but it’s games like this that drew me into this hobby

[@sidneyleejohnson]

If they added a 5th faction, I wonder if it should be "Criminal/Organized Crime"...then again they do have the state...aka "Federal Mafia"..

[@timwanger4491]

This is a comment which must be from an American 😂

[@BenGreen1980]

RE: Not liking games with involved teaches: They can watch the teach on KZbin. This is the kind of game, that's maybe not a good fit for you if that doesn't sound like a good idea. I did the same thing before my first TI3 game, I watched a 4 hour teach twice so I could just jump in with an experienced group of players. This is a game that I'll just send a full teach video to my group before we play so we can just get going

[@Pexikexi]

Thanks for the review! They must have changed the hand size from 8 to 7. So might be a little bit shorter game then the prototype. But it feels like I would want that extra turn! Always like one more thing I want to do 😅 Played it twice at 3 players, but only like 3 rounds. Did not have the time to finish. Really want to play with the state!

[@BoardGameCo]

Yep, I do believe they changed it :)

[@blakem648]

it's pronounced "hegemony"

[@BoardGameCo]

Exactly 😂

[@patriziopastore9895]

Looks good but i totally understand your concern... For now I enter the early pledge just to go with that in case... But most probably I will drop it, too many games in November.

[@BoardGameCo]

Reasonable enough :)

[@mikeysboardroom]

Great review! This one is a pass for me, but it makes me wish I had a regular group of 4 people so I could really enjoy it. Thanks!

[@Haxxin10]

I agree with how you were first saying it.

[@sidneyleejohnson]

Oddly enough this is a board game design that I had been dreaming about for a couple decades being a student of economics, finance, and history. I haven't read the rules but I wonder if one potential missing factor is "the environment". That is to say that your environment can go to hell while all these competing interests focus on their short term objectives. The fact the game ends in 5 rounds likely leaves out demonstrating the impact of these groups on their limited resources. Also I wonder to what degree a Singapore model of economic development would emerge as a path to prosperity for a large number of these factions to work together toward. The world largely ignores Singapore's economic miracle and typically we do see these various factions pitted against each other in some kind of zero sum game premise. That said despite Singapore's high per capita standard of living one might ask if the average Singaporean is happy and you might be surprised to find out that many are not due to working long hours with little vacation. The trade off to reach their economic success may have left the working class with more to be desired. Does this game somehow gage happiness independent of wealth accumulation? France for example has ridiculous vacation and short work weeks. Economically and even socially(France has some fairly severe cultural rifts) they may be a basket case but if you managed to have a job there you might be happy with all your time off. It sounds like the game should almost be required from an educational perspective to understand how all these factions really do compete in the real world. Turning the "Commanding Heights" into a board game is no small feat. There are very few games that can even attempt at communicating this real world complexity of competing interests that we will experience throughout our lives. I totally understand you not wanting to give them a 5 for effort for even attempting such a feat. That said until a better game either exists (that I'm not aware of) or comes along that can accomplish what they have done it may well land on my shelf and stay there for sheer political economic education purposes. Sometimes hard games deserve to be taught if there is educational value to the simulation. Perhaps the game was almost better aimed at economic instructors who could introduce it in some kid of "lab" experience for their students. It might be the perfect game to be added to promotion by the Dietz Foundation.

[@JohnClem56]

I agree, I love the fact that they have taken a complex set of real world interactions which we all have some experience with and crafted a game around them. Not sure at exactly what education level this would work best at but could see it being an excellent learning/lab experience in a US high school AP economics/history class for example. This could help bring to life fundamental socio-economic dynamics in a way that meaningfully engages students. That alone makes me want this game and the developers to be successful!

[@kombainasable]

we are walking on thin ice between academic discussion and pushing agendas with community for this game. I'd urge caution going too deep into trying to make it more accurate, as we would tap into very weaponized parts of our community with very different views about real world. in current form mechanics are universal enough it fits biparty (american) and multi-party (european) democracies, but also non-democracies such as communist (soviet version at least) or autocratic. without really saying anyone is evil, just competing interests. it's in a good place in that regard

[@sidneyleejohnson]

@@kombainasable Very good point. I deeply enjoyed the attempt PBS made through their series "Commanding Heights" at providing a balanced view of the competing attempts at navigating the political economic waters in the past. If they have managed to provide a framework to simulate the impacts of various choices among these competing interests it may be less deadly to play out these in a game then it has been IRL.

[@fabiogoncalves1519]

Hi Alex, Do you think this game can be an educative game for teenagers about society? Or is it more of only a game?

[@wisonkinui612]

I think it is more a game than an educational product. as you can see, the theme is not so often.

[@JohnHoliver]

It looks interesting, makes me think about Democracy 4 (PC). At first look I can imagine picking it on retail. Now that u mentioned accessibly, it just made it a bit less interesting.

[@BoardGameCo]

It's really solid, I just hope it gets played.

[@somerandomperson8282]

Teaching the game (or almost any other game9 is not a chore when everyone has to watch a video first. This is not a game you should just spontaneously bring out, people should be prepared for it.

[@BoardGameCo]

Agreed...but that's noy my main game group

[@Dhalious]

I wish it was a 5 to you. Kind of want to see your rating after you play every class.

[@BoardGameCo]

It's really well done, and I do enjoy it, but this isn't n't the kind of game that I will invest as much time in compared to others

[@dragomateriale]

I'm viewing a ton of your reviews, they are great! Wanted to ask, what's the material of the table cloth you are using in this video, as in many others where the games are massive? I'm looking for a nice solution for my board games experience, I don't have a boardgame table, so the "right table cloth" seems to me the best solution for me! Thanks!

[@BoardGameCo]

Wool blanket, you can find them on Amazon.

[@dragomateriale]

@@BoardGameCo thank you a lot, I'll search for it!

[@Javigarcia222]

Is it better or worse than Root? Seems similar

[@BoardGameCo]

Similar in asymmetry, but totally different games.

[@paulb2474]

It looks like an interesting game, but its a shame i don't think this would ever hit the table, as I don't have a regular set of 4 that would place something this heavy.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yep, that's one of the biggest concerns I have.

[@AlessandroScaltritti]

I've only one doubt before ks ends: it seems that factions are trying to maintain their status quo using their own capabilities. I don't know how much interaction is there. To debuff or help others factions is a part of the gameplay?

[@williamblack6912]

So the struggle of our modern class system condensed into a board game I will look into it once it launches...Is it crazy to consider ordering custom boxes for board games

[@Straddllw]

I'd be okay if it is slightly skewed towards Capitalists and the State. It would just be thematic hahaha .... ha ... :'(

[@BoardGameCo]

Lol fair

[@stevekingswell9143]

Well, as a Brit, your pronunciation is correct I.e. HEDGE-emony

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I'll play this game. Then again, I'll try any game.

[@BoardGameCo]

Lol fair enough :)

[@timtendler8713]

Are you sure you got the number of cards and actions per round right? My german version says 7 cards per round, 5 actions.

[@BoardGameCo]

This was played when it was a prototype, it's possible that things changed...or possible I made a mistake too :)

[@chadvader974]

Have you played john company? Is this game more difficult to learn and play than that game?

[@larrye]

I was interested in hearing more about this game but the more I see about it, the more comparisons I draw to Root. The luck factors of Root dice rolls are what really turns me off to that game. This seems to have a similar deal with the game voting. Just thinking that I can lose the game because a certain cube was pulled out of the bag of the very end is a big turn off.

[@RicardoMoreno-dv7it]

I think that is unlikely. In Root there are a lot of dice and you can't do much about them, but here you have actions to add more of your cubes to the bag, you can negotiate with other players to see who votes what and honestly, none of the policy situations is an absolute dealbreaker. Sure, you could have bad luck at the end (like in any game), but you will have had plenty of opportunities before that to create a favorable board state to prevent that last cube draw from being critical.

[@WebMonkey741]

One of the problems that I see in Hegemony is that if voting is such a key ingredient/action, then why are there an EVEN number of factions/players. In this case I would look at the suggested player count in "The King's Dilemma" as five where an odd number usually forces one faction to play the deciding vote which increases the interactions and 'horse trading' in voting negotiations. UNLESS, the designers are attempting to simulate AMERICAN politics (viz. Senate) where a deadlocked vote leads to political stagnation. ;) I would welcome your response to how well you think the voting works with even players. Thanks!

[@matteosposato9448]

The point is that the voting mechanism in Hegemony is totally detached from the idea of 1 player = 1 vote, so your worry does not apply. As I said voting does NOT rely on the mechanism based on which each player expresses one vote. Instead, each of the three players (because the State does not participate in what I am about to say) has chances, during the game, to add their own voting tokens to a shared voting bag. When a vote for a policy is due, each player has to express whether they are in favour or against and then five voting tokens are drawn from the voting bag, each of them counting according to the preference stated by the player that it belongs to. So you have the incentive to add your voting tokens to the voting bag, because it will become more likely that yours will be drawn when deciding for a policy. Anyway when the five voting tokens have been drawn and the provisional result of the vote has been determined as a consequence, each player (including the State, this time) has the opportunity to spend some influence to add to the voting-tokens count. At the end of all of this, the final result is determined also knowing that, in case of a draw between approval and rejection, the bill will be approved. Hope this was clear.

[@WebMonkey741]

@@matteosposato9448 Yeah I've since revised my opinion on Hegemony voting. (I finally got my copy last week) Truthfully, there's only three people voting with the state attempting to sway one or two classes to their side. 😉

[@HellPet]

This game is so good. What a blast we had playing this one.

[@BoardGameCo]

It's hard to table but can be very very satisfying :)

[@Konkytonk]

Like all your videos, but kind of get boring of the 'sorry if i butcher your name or pronounce the name of the designer / game wrong'. Just go with it:P

[@siriactuallysara]

What is better oath or hegemony

[@BoardGameCo]

I haven't played Oath sadly.

[@user-fe7rz4ll8q]

This is not the kind of game you should "teach" as one person. Indeed that's way too much. Instead everyone should read the rules in advance like with wargames. Problem solved. Play it only with serious people who don't mind preparing.

[@BoardGameCo]

Sure, but for many groups, myself included, that basically just means It won't get played.

[@thegameskingdom811]

Hand size is 7, not 8

[@BoardGameCo]

Hmm..I'd have to look to see if they changed that from prototype or if I made a mistake

[@thomashaines1942]

həˈjemənē and ˈhejəˌmōnē are both widely accepted pronunciations! The first is the way mvm say it. The second being the way you initially said it! Or at least close to it.

[@derdoc6507]

Oh dear, I'll skip this game 😙