Learn to Play: Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory

Join us at Pandemonium for a special, four-hour session where we’ll teach, play — and hopefully finish! — Hegemony! You’re especially welcome if you’ve never before played hobby board games (and are curious about where to start), but keep in mind this game is not what we usually demo (at least not regularly).

In Hegemony, you represent members of a county that is doing just okay. The government is saddled with international debt, the middle class is disappearing, social welfare programs are drying up, and the very rich can’t seem to sell enough to satisfy their ambitions. What’s to be done?

Each player (depending on player count) will take on the role of one socioeconomic class (Working Class, Capitalists, Middle Class, or the State) and attempt to “lead their class to victory,” as the title says. What you get, in terms of a game, is a highly asymmetric experience where every decision you make will either help or harm another player’s ambitions. What happens when the Workers go on strike? Do the Capitalists relent and increase wages (or close businesses they can’t afford to run), or does the State step in with subsidies at the risk of international bankruptcy? But those subsidies require taxes, and how much will the Middle Class be able to stomach (even if, they too, benefit from them)? Only one player can win.

Although deeply strategic and thematic, this game is a lot to absorb, so that’s why we’re giving ourselves an extra hour to help teach the rules and allow players to digest what’s going on. Because we’ve never demoed it before, we hope we can finish, but if we can’t, we hope it will still be a good experience nevertheless. 

So if a game of socioeconomic simulation (and a bit of encouraged roleplaying) sounds like fun, then don’t hesitate to sign up! And if this game is just a little too real (or heavy, mechanistically), stay tuned to the Events Calendar for future announcements of our next event! This upcoming event will be a little strange, but we think it will be interesting, if nothing else. 

RULES FOR ATTENDING: 

• Proof of vaccination is no longer required. If COVID levels rise, masking will be required. We will make an announcement about this on our website and social media if re-instated. 
• Photos may be taken at events to be used in our social media or promotional materials. Please inform the staff member running the event if you do not want your photo taken.
• Advance online registration is required.
• Anyone not registered in an ongoing event will not be allowed in the event space to maintain capacity limits.
• Food is not allowed in our event space. Drinks are allowed.