Game Overview

Game Name: Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory
Publication Year: 2023
Designers: Vangelis Bagiartakis and Varnavas Timotheou
Artist: Jakub Skop
Publisher: Hegemonic Project Games
Solo Mode: Included in Hegemony – Crisis & Control

In a very intricate sort of way, up to 4 classes take part in the story of a nation. Each operates very differently as politics and economics intertwine, even as classes work towards different goals. Only 5 rounds elapse, yet there is never a pause in the life of the nation and its policies!

Simulating a Nation

Extremely large play area that nearly went off my table? Yes. A setup process that felt like a game in and of itself? Of course. And a ridiculous amount of rules? Absolutely!

I think it’s important to present this game in an honest light. It’s not going to be for everyone, and that’s OK!

There are so many rules, often scattered in odd places. Rulebooks, giant rule aids, smaller rule summaries, and a deck of clarifications for every automa must be referenced.

Still interested? I will say that this is more of a simulation that generates the story of a nation… And it’s so amazing.

The Working Class

There are 4 different possible classes, and I decided to dive in and use all of the available automas! This meant I would play as the state, but I still had to know every class.

The working class is, as expected, focused on building up workers and ensuring they’re employed in companies.

Prosperity indicates how well the population is doing in terms of health, education, and luxury. Providing these resources helps move ahead, but food is also needed.

Although this class might not have the most options, it’s an integral part of the economy connected to everyone.

The Middle Class

Workers are also important to the middle class, yet it also has the abilities to own companies and produce resources.

Effectively, it straddles a place between the working and capitalist classes… Right in the middle! Ha ha! This can put it in an interesting position to lean in one direction.

I’ll note that in a multiplayer game, the middle class player has the ability to shift power between the classes.

The automa worked well enough, but as I’ll show in a little bit, the middle class operated in a way that heavily favored the working class, leading to a rather large imbalance.

The Capitalist Class

Oh, capitalists! This class is, naturally, all about money and wealth, but it’s the biggest employer. Its company capacity is larger than the middle class’s and state’s.

There are also additional options open, particularly to make business deals and store more resources to sell on the foreign market. Producing and selling are paramount.

However, this is a good time to point out that every class is taxed by the state, so capitalists can get hit hard.

This is why tax rates and wages are part of the policies. So much going on, yet it all works so well and realistically!

Every National Policy

For those familiar with the concept of micro vs. macro, this is absolutely a macro sort of view of a nation, or a very broad overview. Not an easy feat to achieve in a game!

With just 7 policies, every aspect can be generalized and simulated. From minimum wages to taxes, and even the cost of healthcare or immigration… It’s all here for voting.

Policies begin in a set pattern, yet one of the biggest parts of gameplay comes down to proposing new bills.

Moving these markers around affects everything, and even a seemingly small shift can have enormous effects.

Companies & Employees

There is a huge focus on the overall economy, which is achieved by boiling down a lot of potential minutia into very clear companies and types of workers.

Skilled and unskilled workers exist for both the working and middle classes, and their wages are determined by the labor market policy. Then, they produce resources.

The public sector companies, owned by the state, pay the most, yet these also represent intangible benefits.

I’m glossing over some points, yet it is just so awesome to see a modern nation boiled down to an approachable level!

The State

With the other classes controlled by automas, I took on the role of the state. This one is focused on generating legitimacy with the other classes and managing events.

There is also a political agenda during each round, which represents the current leaders’ policy desires.

I had action cards to use either for basic actions, or the special benefits printed on the cards. Note, too, that this allowed me to discard cards I didn’t want to play.

For example, denying free speech was pretty harsh, so I simply discarded it to perform a basic action. Much better!

Shifting Policies

Before I knew it, the end arrived! Education was free right from the start, which translated into a lot of upgraded workers. This nation was all about educating everyone.

Meanwhile, healthcare remained extremely expensive. Foreign trade and immigration were fairly static, too.

The labor market and taxation changed considerably. For a good portion of the game, the working class managed to keep minimum wage requirements at the highest level.

I was pretty happy about how the votes went for taxes… The multiplier was as high as 9 for several rounds!

High Employment

With such an educated population, the middle class and capitalist class managed to open all sorts of companies. Most require at least 1 skilled worker, after all.

Take a close look, and the focus on education should be clear: There were 7 education-focused companies!

Automated companies helped the capitalist class generate resources without wages, but there were still employees.

Combine high tax rates with high wages, and I’ll let you come to the conclusion about how well the capitalists did. Let’s just say they didn’t put “capital” in their name. Ha!

A Full Treasury

Things didn’t go well for the state the entire time. Even with high taxes, the wages in the public sector were very high. I didn’t manage the funds well at certain points.

Luckily, it was possible to take a loan, and the IMF was only mildly concerned since the current policy only caused an intervention when 2 loans were needed.

By the end, the state treasury was overflowing… And I clearly never used all of that media influence. Ha ha!

The public services were really helpful for legitimacy, though, particularly the free education for workers.

Working Hard

In the end, the working class was quite prosperous with a large population. All of them were employed, too, which brought in plenty of income! Very helpful.

I was aligned with it a lot, aside from the times when it proposed higher wages and managed to win the vote.

A cooperative farm gave it a little boost to its food production, and trade unions helped highlight where it were most present. Not in education, interestingly.

This was a happy working class, often able to purchase education or even luxury to improve its prosperity.

A Middling Ending

The middle class didn’t fare quite as well, but education allowed it to upgrade unskilled workers with skilled workers. Effectively, new companies were easier to open.

However, there was competition with the working class for employment positions. They balanced out, but middle class workers mostly went to the capitalist companies.

This meant that the capitalist class had to pay a lot, moving that wealth into the other classes each round.

It was fascinating to see! The middle class was caught in the middle, though, often voting with the working class.

The Capital Struggle

I checked the rules in every single place I could, over and over, yet the capitalist class lagged behind. So much!

However, the policies definitely didn’t favor it. As the state, I also used the fact that we often voted together to propose policies I knew it would use its influence on.

Then there was that time I privatized an education company… Money flowed into the state, and then the capitalists had to pay the extremely high wage. Sorry!

Yet even as the capitalist class struggled, all of that money helped boost the working and middle classes.

State of Excellence

My success was mostly based on knowing when to side with the different classes. I also made sure to generate legitimacy across the board with the whole nation.

It didn’t look like much in the end… Mainly because the final round had the state on the verge of disaster!

Highlights included giving money to different classes to bump up legitimacy a lot. And that privatization action probably was the reason for the capitalist class’s issues.

Looking at this spread, I can remember some key moments that were simply awesome to pull off!

Session Overview

Play Number: 1 and 2
Expansion: Hegemony – Crisis & Control
Solo Mode: Included in Hegemony – Crisis & Control
Play Details: Simple Automa
Outcome: 134-104-90-52 (Win)

I split this play up, but pulled off a fairly easy victory in the points department. However, I think the real strength is in the realistic storytelling of a modern nation. So much happened, and everything here only covers a small amount of the non-stop action! I played for around 6 hours, and stayed engaged the whole time. Phenomenal.

Affordability

Price & Value

10

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

8

Originality

Design & Theme

9

Quality

Components & Rules

6