FAQ
63 answered questions43 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by Hegemonic Project Games or the designers.
Common mistakes
- Giving 1 VP to every supporter of a passed Bill — only those whose cube was drawn or who spent Influence score. Ruling · Rule
- Requiring skilled Workers for a Trade Union — the 4 Workers in the industry can be unskilled; only the leader is skilled. Ruling · Rule
- Building a Middle Class Company and staffing it later — its Middle Class Workers must be available when you build. Ruling · Rule
- Using Middle Class production for Prosperity straight from the Storage — buy it from yourself first. Ruling · Rule
- Counting the Welfare modifiers in the Tax Multiplier while Taxation is in C. Ruling · Rule
- Letting the Capitalist pay off Loans at the end — it simply loses 5 VP per Loan. Ruling · Rule
Showing 63 of 63
If a Company has a Strike token on it, can the Working Class still move its Workers elsewhere? Official
Yes, as long as they are not committed.
Can a Company on Strike be sold? Official
Yes, if its Workers are not committed.
What happens at the Production Phase to a Strike token on a Company that no longer has Workers? Official
Nothing: the Company is not operational, the token is simply removed and the Working Class gains no Influence for it.
Does an empty employee slot in a Middle Class Company count as an open slot for the Working Class's Demonstration? Official
Not if the Company has no Middle Class Worker running it: a Working Class Worker could not be placed there anyway.
The Capitalist builds a Company with only unskilled slots; the Working Class has unskilled Workers free but the Middle Class only skilled ones. May it hire the Middle Class Workers? Official
Yes. It first chooses which class to employ, then takes that class's Workers, unskilled ones first.
If I take a Worker out of a Company and put another Worker in its place in the same action, is the new Worker committed? Official
No. A Company (other than a Middle Class one) cannot mix committed and uncommitted Workers, so they are all uncommitted — like a Swap Workers.
Can I use Assign Workers just to commit Workers already in a Company? Official
No. Workers become committed only when assigned to a new Company.
My Middle Class Worker is uncommitted but the Working Class employee in the same Company is committed. Can I move my Worker away? Official
No. That would close the Company and make the committed employee unemployed, which commitment forbids.
Are Workers committed when Wages rise because of a Policy change? Official
No. Only a raise made with a Free Action during the Action Phase commits them.
What if Prosperity is already at the top of the track when I gain more? Official
The marker stays, and you still score the value of that top space.
Do the 4 Workers a Trade Union needs have to be skilled?
No. Any 4 of your Workers in Companies of that industry count, skilled or not (Cooperative Farms count for Agriculture). Only the Union leader must be a skilled Worker of that colour, and the leader is not one of the 4.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Can the Middle Class build a Company it cannot staff yet?
No. It needs the Middle Class Workers for the Company at the moment it builds — unemployed ones, or its own uncommitted Workers taken from other Companies.
Source: BGG thread
Can the Middle Class use its own produced goods directly for Prosperity?
No. It must first move them from its Storage to Goods & Services with a Buy Goods & Services action (buying from itself costs nothing but counts as one of the two sources).
Source: BGG thread
Can I choose not to produce in a staffed Company? Official
No, production is not optional. Cheap State services are no reason to stop either: you can always export what you make.
Source: BGG thread
Does the Middle Class have to commit and pay an uncommitted employee for an Extra Shift?
Yes: with an uncommitted employee you commit them and pay the Wage, and get their bonus. If the employee is already committed you may still choose the Company, without their Wage or bonus. A Middle Class Company with an empty employee slot still produces and counts as operational, but not as fully operational.
Source: BGG thread
Does Give Bonus cost 5 per Worker?
No: one Company per Free Action, 5 to the player whose Workers are there, all of them committed.
Source: BGG thread
Does unused Influence or unused goods disappear at the end of a round? Official
No. Influence stays until spent, and the goods the Working and Middle Class bought stay too.
Source: BGG thread
If the Middle Class runs out of unskilled Workers, does Use Healthcare give a skilled one?
Yes, a skilled Worker of its choice (Component limits).
Source: BGG thread
Is the Middle Class or the Working Class first to buy Food at Cover Needs?
The Middle Class: the whole Production Phase runs in reverse order (State, Capitalist, Middle, Working).
Source: BGG thread
Once one player has done a transaction on the Export card, is it gone for the round?
No. The Export card stays all round and keeps no memory: every Sell to the Foreign Market action may use each of the 8 transactions once.
Source: BGG thread
If everyone supports a Bill, does every supporter score 1 VP?
No. The Bill passes, but besides the proposer (3 VP) only supporters who actually added a vote — a drawn cube or Influence — score 1 VP. Influence may still be added to an all-agree vote.
Source: BGG thread
How many cubes does the Middle Class add when the bag is refilled? Official
The higher of half its own Population or half its own operational Companies, rounded up — "that class" in the rulebook means the Middle Class.
Source: BGG thread
Is the bag refilled for an Immediate Vote?
No. Cubes are only added in the Elections Phase, or when the bag is empty and you must draw.
Source: BGG thread
With Interest Groups in a 2-player game, can I replace Middle Class cubes? Official
Yes: replace the first 3 cubes of any other classes, they need not belong to one player.
Source: BGG thread
Are cards discarded for a Basic Action placed face up? Official
Yes, discard piles are face up (it rarely matters).
Source: BGG thread
What is the Tax Multiplier with 3C, 4B and 5B? Official
- In section C of Taxation the Welfare modifiers are ignored.
Source: BGG thread
Is the Capitalist's Corporate Tax worked out before or after the Employment Tax?
After: pay Employment Tax first, then Corporate Tax on what is left in Revenue.
Source: BGG thread
Does the Capitalist pay Wages from Revenue or from Capital?
From Revenue first, then Capital; only if both are empty and the payment is forced does it take a Loan.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
With Policy 1C, does a single State Loan bring the IMF?
Yes: in 1C the State may hold no Loans at Check IMF, so one Loan it cannot repay triggers the IMF; in 1A or 1B it takes 2.
Source: BGG thread
After an IMF intervention, must a human State set every Wage to L1?
Yes: the intervention forces all Wages to L1.
Source: BGG thread
If Public Companies close and the State holds more services than its new limit, what happens? Official
The excess is discarded at once.
If an IMF intervention closes a Public Company with Middle Class Workers, does the Middle Class still pay Income Tax for it? Official
No: when taxes are paid it has no Workers there any more.
How do unpaid Loans score at the end?
Everyone but the Capitalist may pay 55 per Loan, in steps of 5, losing 1 VP per 5 left unpaid (11 VP for a whole Loan). The Capitalist may not pay and loses a flat 5 VP per Loan.
Source: BGG thread
Can the State sell a Public Company with committed Workers when Fiscal Policy shrinks? Official
Yes — the only case in which a Company with committed Workers may be sold.
Can the State use Extra Tax when its Legitimacy is already at 1? Official
No, it must have Legitimacy to lose.
How does the State get Food or Luxury to provide? Official
When it must Provide them it may buy them as part of the action, from players or the Foreign Market — never from the class it provides to.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Does the State score at Health or Education in section A as well as B?
In B it scores 1 VP each time a class buys from it, whatever the amount. In A there are no points; instead it gains 1 Legitimacy with that class for every 3 taken.
Source: BGG thread
When Fiscal Policy grows in a 4-player game, may the State open fewer Companies?
No: the State chooses which ones, but must end with exactly 3, 6 or 9 open Public Companies.
Source: BGG thread
When does the State gain Influence from the icons above its Legitimacy tracks?
Only in the Elections Phase, instead of adding cubes: the amount above the class with the lowest Legitimacy.
Source: BGG thread
Are Workers assigned by a card committed? Official
Yes. A card that has you take an action uses that action's normal rules unless it says otherwise.
Is the half price on Healthcare Benefits and State Scholarship per token or on the total? Official
On the total, rounded up: 5 Health at 5 each cost 13. With the Welfare Policy in B the State still scores its 1 VP, and the card's Legitimacy applies.
With Health Crisis, Higher Education Program or Bid Rigging, can I sell the State more than it can store or afford? Official
Not more than it can store; but more than it can afford, and then the State takes a Loan. In a 2-player game, Luxury sold with Bid Rigging goes back to the supply.
Can Cooperative Farm Workers move to another Company later, and do they count for a Trade Union? Official
They are committed the round the Farm is built; later they may move like any Worker, and the Farm stays by your board for future use. They do count for an Agricultural Trade Union.
Can I play Extra Shift if I cannot pay the Wages? Official
No: paying the Wages is part of the effect.
With Need for Change or Push Political Agenda, does each Bill need its own Influence for an Immediate Vote? Official
Yes, 1 each. You may hold the first vote before choosing the second Bill, which must be on a different Policy.
With Labor Market Deregulation, can I move committed Workers, and are re-staffed Workers committed? Official
Committed Workers cannot be moved. Emptying and refilling a still-operational Company in one action leaves its new Workers uncommitted, like a Swap.
Migration in round 1 drops me below 10 Workers. What is my Population? Official
It stays at 3.
After Privatization, how many Public Companies do I end with when Fiscal Policy changes again? Official
Exactly the number the new section shows: from 2 Companies at 1C going to 1B you buy 4. At 1A you can reach only 8, since one card is gone. Privatization may sell a Company with committed Workers (they keep working there); if the Capitalist later sells it, the card returns face down to the Public Sector.
Can a Company taken by Nationalization be closed and reopened like other Public Companies? Official
Yes: it becomes a Public Company in every respect.
Source: BGG thread
With Public Opinion Polling, do the others declare their vote before I decide on an Immediate Vote? Official
No. You decide alone; sides are declared only if you call the vote.
Emergency State changes a Policy. Do I score? Official
No: points come only from elections.
Immediate Response provides to the same class twice. Is the first set of benefits discarded? Official
No: both actions happen in the same turn, so both sets stay.
Shift Focus and A Matter of High Priority: what happens to the Event card I do not choose? Official
It goes back on top of the Event deck (both, if you place neither). You may then answer either Event on the board. In round 1, reshuffle a "Rounds 2–5 only" Event and draw again.
Can the State use Media Influence for Step for Representation? Official
No. Personal and Media Influence are never swapped except by Campaign, and providing does not let the State "buy" its own Media Influence.
Does Import Subsidy let me buy from myself or another player too? Official
No, only from the Foreign Market.
Source: BGG thread
Where does Workplace Accident money come from for the Capitalist? Official
From Revenue, then Capital.
Can the State buy more than it can store with an Event, just to score? Official
No, its Storages limit what it may buy.
With Civil Unrest, who decides the Bill and the Immediate Vote? Official
The chosen player names the Bill (they must, if able); the State proposes it with its own marker and decides — with its own Influence — whether to call an Immediate Vote. It is the State's proposal: 3 VP if it passes.
With Infant Industry Requires Help, who picks the Company and its Workers? Official
The State picks a Company from that player's Market; the owner then makes every staffing decision. A Middle Class Company can only be built if its Middle Class Workers are unemployed; they are placed automatically.
Can Unfair Representation be paid with Media Influence? Official
No: Personal Influence only.
[C&C] Where does a class "get" the items of an Alternative Event Benefit?
From the general supply, unless the card names another source.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[C&C] Can I play the State in a 2-player game?
Only with Automas: the Working and Capitalist Class must be in play, and a player-run State needs the Middle Class too (human or Automa). The simple Automas are quick to run; the advanced ones need much more handling.
Source: BGG thread
[Historical] Can a Historical Event move a Policy locked by a Crisis Response card? Official
Yes: Historical Events win. The Policy moves and its Lock is removed.
Source: BGG thread