God of Tied Hands

The idea is as follows.

At the start, players are distributed into factions. One player is king, the others vying for the throne. (Or do some other theme with the same idea.)

GAMEPLAY is the same repeating cycle of voting on something.

The exact way we do this is what makes this game. (And why I called it “God of Tied Hands”.)

Not everyone is allowed to vote. The one making a proposal can decide (using cards, the symbols that happen to be on it) which factions are actually voting.
Not all options are available. It’s multiple choice, but the available options must also be provided (at least 2, of course). This means that you can sneakily create a proposal that doesn’t have the option others would actually want, so they’re mostly voting to help you.

This is all roughly inspired by King of the Castle.

What “options” might there be?

The actual PROPOSAL names certain properties.
The OPTIONS merely dictate how those properties would change.
EXAMPLE:
- Proposal has the “Nature” and “Money” icon.
- The option says “+2” and “-5”, which means voting for that solution means Nature goes +2 and Money goes -5.

For more variation and strategy, we should probably also allow the inverse.

The actual PROPOSAL names changes. (Such as numbers, or simply “frozen” = you can’t change that property the next X rounds)
The options dictate WHAT properties change according to that amount.
So, cards should simply have BOTH, right? (One row of properties, then a clear divider, then one row of HOW they change.)

How do players win/lose?

The King tries to retain their supremacy.
The others win if they overthrow the king.
You do so by finishing “3 Schemes” (in total, for your faction) =>
- A “Scheme” is simply a state of the empire. For example: “Nature must be at 0”.
- Schemes are randomly drawn, so they can apply to anyone. But many of them have a slight change for your specific faction, or factions might have special powers that say “Any scheme with Nature can’t be completed by you.”
- There must be some way to use the consequences of the Scheme permanently. For example, after completing a Scheme, it might say “you can use this card once to force another of your faction to vote what you want”
(The Schemes for the king are a separate deck? They’re very unique to make them more able to ward off the animosity of literally every other player around the table?)

More Ideas

@IDEA: Maybe it’s more fun if you don’t know the secret faction of other players. When deciding who may vote, you merely give the public avatar or public role. (Which also places players into groups, but different ones, which may also change during the game.)

FOR EXAMPLE, a Player might secretly have the Rebel faction, but belongs to the public group of Senators.
You propose something and make sure only Senators can vote.

@IDEA: Most political scheming depends on leverage. So,

Maybe players should depend on things the empire gives or other players provide.
So you can say: “If you vote X, then Y goes away”

@IDEA: The potential of “rebellion”? A risky gamble you can take to complete a scheme more easily, but if it backfires, it backfires hard.

@IDEA: An expansion that adds a map! So your scheme doesn’t just involve moving some stats around (which is a bit abstract and meh), but actually capturing/releasing/modifying territories in a certain way.

@IDEA: Of course, the simplest setup would be to randomize the empire stats, or start them all at 0. Maybe it’s more interesting if the other players decide how the empire starts! (Based on the cards in their hand, their secret faction, how they want to play the game … they can already set up the king to be vulnerable from turn 1.)

@IDEA: Each round, the king has one Veto (or one Authority) that allows them overrule whatever the others are proposing or trying to include/exclude. This means the King is more powerful and clearly king, but they also need to find the perfect turn on which to use it, which is a true challenge.

@IDEA: Obviously, we need random events, threats, challenges, to actually keep the game going and diversify further.

@IDEA: Timed Schemes / Delayed Schemes.

The first one must be completed before X rounds have passed, or is checked only when the empire passes into a new Season or something.
The second one is placed somewhere else when completed. Its rewards (including potentially winning) are only given after some time has passed (such as, again, the empire passes into a new specific Season.)

@IDEA: Certain votes that don’t go by simple majority, but need a 2/3, or some other special way of handling which option wins. (Perhaps we can make ANOTHER pun on “Tied Hands” by having some very unique way to resolve ties. Such as: all Tied options are now discarded, causing a third or fourth one to win.)

The idea is as follows. At the start, players are distributed into factions. One player is **king**, the others **vying for the throne**. (Or do some other theme with the same idea.) GAMEPLAY is the same repeating cycle of _voting on something_. The exact way we do this is what makes this game. (And why I called it "God of Tied Hands".) * **Not everyone is allowed to vote.** The one making a proposal can decide (using cards, the symbols that happen to be on it) which factions are actually voting. * **Not all options are available.** It's multiple choice, but the available options must _also_ be provided (at least 2, of course). This means that you can sneakily create a proposal that doesn't have the option others would actually want, so they're mostly voting to help _you_. _This is all roughly inspired by [King of the Castle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839880/King_Of_The_Castle/)._ ## What "options" might there be? * The actual PROPOSAL names certain properties. * The OPTIONS merely dictate how those properties would change. * EXAMPLE: * Proposal has the "Nature" and "Money" icon. * The option says "+2" and "-5", which means voting for that solution means Nature goes +2 and Money goes -5. For more variation and strategy, we should probably also allow the inverse. * The actual PROPOSAL names changes. (Such as numbers, or simply "frozen" = you can't change that property the next X rounds) * The options dictate WHAT properties change according to that amount. * **So, cards should simply have BOTH, right?** (One row of properties, then a clear divider, then one row of HOW they change.) ## How do players win/lose? * The King tries to retain their supremacy. * The others win if they overthrow the king. * You do so by finishing "3 Schemes" (in total, for your faction) => * A "Scheme" is simply a _state_ of the empire. For example: "Nature must be at 0". * Schemes are randomly drawn, so they can apply to anyone. _But_ many of them have a slight change for your specific faction, or factions might have special powers that say "Any scheme with Nature can't be completed by you." * There must be _some_ way to use the consequences of the Scheme permanently. For example, after completing a Scheme, it might say "you can use this card once to force another of your faction to vote what you want" * (The Schemes for the king are a separate deck? They're very unique to make them more able to ward off the animosity of literally every other player around the table?) ## More Ideas **@IDEA:** Maybe it's more fun if you _don't_ know the secret faction of other players. When deciding who may vote, you merely give the public avatar or public role. (Which also places players into groups, but different ones, which may also _change_ during the game.) * FOR EXAMPLE, a Player might secretly have the Rebel faction, but belongs to the public group of Senators. * You propose something and make sure only Senators can vote. **@IDEA:** Most political scheming depends on **leverage**. So, * Maybe players should _depend_ on things the empire gives or other players provide. * So you can say: "If you vote X, then Y goes away" **@IDEA:** The potential of "rebellion"? A risky gamble you can take to complete a scheme more easily, but if it backfires, it backfires _hard_. **@IDEA:** An expansion that adds a _map_! So your scheme doesn't just involve moving some stats around (which is a bit abstract and meh), but actually capturing/releasing/modifying territories in a certain way. **@IDEA:** Of course, the simplest setup would be to randomize the empire stats, or start them all at 0. Maybe it's more _interesting_ if the other players decide how the empire starts! (Based on the cards in their hand, their secret faction, how they want to play the game ... they can already set up the king to be vulnerable from turn 1.) **@IDEA:** Each round, the king has _one_ Veto (or one Authority) that allows them overrule whatever the others are proposing or trying to include/exclude. This means the King _is_ more powerful and clearly king, but they also need to find the perfect turn on which to use it, which is a true challenge. **@IDEA:** Obviously, we need random events, threats, challenges, to actually keep the game going and diversify further. **@IDEA:** Timed Schemes / Delayed Schemes. * The first one must be completed before X rounds have passed, or is checked only when the empire passes into a new Season or something. * The second one is placed somewhere else when completed. Its _rewards_ (including potentially winning) are only given after some time has passed (such as, again, the empire passes into a new specific Season.) **@IDEA:** Certain votes that don't go by simple majority, but need a 2/3, or some other special way of handling which option wins. (Perhaps we can make ANOTHER pun on "Tied Hands" by having some very unique way to resolve _ties_. Such as: all Tied options are now _discarded_, causing a third or fourth one to win.)