Demockrasy

Demockrasy is a lighthearted satire of American politics.

Demockrasy is a two to eight player game in which you will play the role of a powerbroker behind the scenes of American politics, putting together Politicians with the Supporters who elect them. Players compete to gain Power over the course of the game; at the end of the game, the player with the most Power is the winner. Outsmart your opponents, sponsor terrible legislation just to force opposing politicians into early retirements, betray your supporters, and otherwise heartlessly manipulate the American populace to achieve your victory!

Demockrasy was built by a career bureaucrat, illustrated by someone too young to vote, and playtested by a real live legislative staffer. So you can be assured that each round of Demockrasy carries in it the same disappointed idealism and snarky skepticism that you would expect from any young life consumed by bureaucracy and politicking. Fun for the whole family, and there's the taste of election season in every bite!

See below for a walkthrough video of one full round!

How to Play

Demockrasy is played over four rounds. Each round has a Drafting phase, when you will choose Politicians and Supporters, and a Legislation phase, when you sponsor and vote on Legislation. The Legislation phase is when you will have the opportunity to gain power.

During the Drafting phase, players will pass several hands of cards around the table, each hand containing Politicians and Supporters. Each time you get a hand, you will pick one of the cards, play it face-up in front of you, and pass the hand to the next player. Once all players have played five cards, the Legislation phase begins.

Politicians

Each politician has three stats: Hearts, Cards, and Ranking. Hearts represent a Politician's political will: his or her endurance in the face of scandals, betrayals, and defeat. Cards represent a Politician's appeal--this number indicates how many Supporter cards a Politician can carry. Ranking indicates the Politician's seniority and position when it comes to proposing Legislation.

Supporters

Supporters have two stats: Agenda and Votes. Agenda indicates what issue in American politics matters most to that Supporter; this is indicated by the type of icon and the background image on the card. If a politician betrays this Agenda, the Supporters will abandon that politician.

Votes indicate the importance of the Supporter. The number of votes is indicated by the number of icons on the card; each Supporter has between one and three Votes. When you vote to Approve or Oppose on Legislation, you vote on behalf of all of the Supporters who back your politicians--meaning your vote carries more or less weight, based on how many votes your Supporters can give you.

Legislation

During the Legislation phase, each player will have a chance to sponsor one Bill from a hand of Legislation cards. You receive these cards at the beginning of the game, and hold onto them for the duration of the game.

The player with the top-ranked politician will sponsor the first Bill. Once the Bill has been revealed, all players must vote to Approve or Oppose the Bill. Once all players have voted, count up the Supporter Votes that Approve the Bill and the Supporter Votes that Oppose the Bill. A simple majority wins; in the case of a tie, the Bill fails.

Each Bill is Approved by one Agenda, and Opposed by another Agenda. Since Supporters are all affiliated with one Agenda, this means every Bill is Approved by some supporters, and Opposed by other supporters. Politicians will lose hearts if they vote against their Supporters Agendas. Politicians can also lose a heart if they voted against the majority.

Players gain power if they sponsor a bill that succeeds, or if they vote in the majority on a Bill.

The player with next top-ranked Politician now sponsors a Bill, which is voted upon; then the next top-ranked Politician, and so on, until all players have had a chance to sponsor a Bill.

End of a Round

At the end of the Legislation round, players have another chance to gain Power if their supporters are happy with the Legislation that was passed or blocked during that round.

At the end of each round, discard all the legislation from that round and deal more cards to start a new Drafting phase. After you have played four rounds, the game is over. Count up the Power you earned over the course of the game--the most Powerful player is the winner!