Blog Post 2: game lab 1 Boogaloo

First Experience

This was my first experience of playing the card game Secret Hitler. It was actually a fun experience getting to play with complete “Strangers”. Without having knowing anyone in the group it was a blast getting to know them but also accusing them of being a Fascist or Hitler (In game of course I’m sure all of the people at the table are good people). Overall in both rounds of Secret Hitler is one of the best gaming experience I had in a recent while. My favorite was in the first round, because not everyone knew the rules and that made the game play feel fresh and exciting. The best part of this was with everyone role playing especially in trying to get elected as a chancellor. That extra layer that the group added made it a special experience especially trying to trap a Fascist in their policies (Such as saying if they’ll make the trains run on time). I also enjoy a certain aspect of the metagame with understanding a players actions and how if they act such a way in a previous game can make them exhibit signs in the next game. This was a Great game hopefully next time I will be able to play it with other people and probably get a different role.

**Game 1: Secret Hitler (2016)**

What is Secret Hitler? Who is Secret Hitler? Why is Secret Hitler?

Secret Hitler is a Social deduction game about passing laws and legislation in Germany in the 1940s, but parliament is filled with fascist and Hitler. The main goal of the game is to have a stable government by the end of the round. The big issue is that Hitler is still alive and that the fascist want Hitler in power. So your goal as a liberal is to deduce who is a Fascist and who is Hitler in order to keep them out of power.

Now you may ask me how does one stop the Fascists from taking over the Government? By voting of course! oh, and maybe murder just in case. You may also ask how do you get to the point of murdering your neighbor in the German Parliament? By voting of course!

Every round a president gets chosen and a Chancellor gets elected. The chancellor is person who gets voted on by the rest of the players by using their voting cards (Ja! or Nein! cards). When the Chancellor gets elected the president is able to pick three tiles, Discard one and pass two of them to the newly elected Chancellor. Sounds great, right? Of course this could be great if the person who the president isn’t a fascist or secretly Hitler. If they were either A fascist, Hitler or a Liberal with the worse luck ever they can pass two fascist aligned legislation to the Chancellor. This can cause some friction, but this is an intentional design choice with Fascists tiles outnumbering the Liberal tiles.

How do any sides win? By voting of course! Well, in this case for a Liberal victory they must fill their board with Liberal tiles in order to score a win for humanity or by killing Hitler (Which ever comes first). In order for a Fascist win they must either get five Fascist tiles on their board, or by voting Hitler into the Chancellor position when three Fascist legislation have already been placed on the Fascist board.

Now, How do I know if I’m evil or if I’m just a limp wrist Liberal? By Voti-

Just kidding, You get to find your roles by looking at your role envelope with either becoming Hitler, A fascist or a Liberal. After that everyone closes their eyes and creates loud noises in order to mask the meeting of the Fascists. In this moment the Fascists open their eyes in order to reveal themselves to the other members of the party and one player raises their hands in order to signal to their peers that they’re Hitler. Then they close their eyes and are ready to be reborn into the world of WWII Germany.

Now the game can begin.

By voting of course!

Session Report:

One beautiful day I was awakened after a night of pounding headaches and noises, knocking on my window sill caused me to go insane but soon after that moment passed. I awoken! it was still Germany 1940-something and nothing bad has happened, just yet. I am a new civil servant awaiting for my new job at the Germany Parliament to elect the new Chancellor for a hurt Germany after the Great War. I sure hope no one is secretly Hitler!

“or well I don’t know who Hitler is, I heard he’s kinda a dick” as I mutter to myself because I of course am a Liberal. It even says it on my Card that I had since this morning.

My Liberal Cards! because I’m a Liberal of course. Not a single fascist bone in my body! (I had them surgically removed)

As I walked into my morning meeting with the rest of my cohorts we began a vote to elect a new Chancellor. I of course not trusting anyone because anyone who wants to be elected chancellor could be evil I chose to exercise my Nein! card. I was quickly outnumbered in Ja!’s but that didn’t stop me from being suspicious of others. This newly elected chancellor decided to drop in a liberal legislation, either they were deceiving us or maybe they were a good person… too early to tell.

Nevertheless, a couple years passed and the position of the president has been passed on and another Chancellor must be elected again. This time the Chancellor was an alcoholic but chose to limit the intake of Alcohol of other citizens… “FASCIST!!!!” I screamed That sounds very Fascist, no? He quickly reiterated that it was for cheaper Alcohol, but I have my doubts. Voted Nein! and that’s that (He passed with enough votes) This lead to him putting in some Fascist law, Gulp! Oh well next election.

Then the next election came by and the title of President was passed down and a new Chancellor was up for election. This time I had a good feeling in this Chancellor and I voted for her. I agreed with her positions and such so it was an easy JA! and the president selected three laws, discarded one and passed two. Another Fascist law was placed, No other choice. The lesser of two evils I supposed.

A couple of years passed I couldn’t help but notice the concerning amount of fascist laws passed… hmmmmmm. Oh well back to voting.

Murder is almost legalized! Luckily the liberals got this with two tiles!

Now that the new president was elected, the new Chancellor was also up for election as well. And guess who it was… AGAIN. The drunkard was voted back in. I have my suspicions that this person is a Fascist, nothing concrete just yet. I voted NEIN! just in case. He of course got elected and of course he voted in, wait a minute a Liberal law? Perplexing, but it could be done to save face. Oh well, next election.

Time marches on and another president and another Chancellor was elected. Wait, I got elected? Well then as a Liberal I have to do my best by- oh shit. They’re both Fascist cards. Crud. No other choice. There was no other choice, I swear. Next election for sure.

And it was the next election, the president and chancellor was, yadda-yadda-yadda you know the spiel. This time the Chancellor was running on the idea of free food so why not? Dropped my Ja! and the tiles were chosen. The chancellor chose Liberal and everything was alright in the world. Great! Next election year here we come!

Whats this? A new President was selected? wonderful! A new Chancellor was also elected too? Great I wonder who it is? Oh my. It’s me again! Perfect I can’t wait to put in a new liberal law- f***k. Yet again my president shafted me with another two Fascist tiles. Oh well next election year I guess.

One thing I noticed in my time in office was the drunkard’s friendliness with another member of parliament. A certain person with a average looking mustache and emo looking hair. I am high suspicious of this friend group since he was too eager to elect him into the chancellor position, but I digress.

Another election cycle and another round of voting. I voted JA! and a Fascist tile was placed. Oh beans. This does not bode well for the local minority population in Germany. But! Murder has become legal for the president and as the left-hand man of the president I helped him decide who to murder. That Drunkard. He got gruesomely executed via a firing squad. He was not Hitler.

Another election year, another round of voting for our chancellor. I believe I had voted yes, and a Liberal Law was passed! Hooray! Next election must get better!

Then that Next election year had passed, and a new president was elected and time for a new Chancellor. The president draws three, discards one, passes one aaaaand fascist tile. Uh oh. Surely this time murder can help us here right? Well luckily that friend of that drunkard (May his soul rest in eternal torment or peace) was chosen to be executed by the president. It turned out he was HITLER! Of course. My suspicions were correct. The drunkard and him were too friendly. His willingness to want him to get elected into a position of power was too eager after the third Fascist tile was placed. This was a complete Liberal Victory! Hooray for voting! Hooray for murder! This was only accomplished by Voting of course! This is a great win for everyone who isn’t a fascist!