Absolutism Rulebook

ABOUT

This game can be played by 4 to 10 + players of more than 17 years of age.

Absolutism is a party game consisting of two decks of cards: the RED cards (ABSOLUTE SCENARIOS) and the YELLOW cards (UNCONVENTIONAL SOLUTIONS).

  1. The first deck of cards (RED cards) contains 90 totalitarian society scenarios, 5 RE-EDUCATION cards, and 5 NATIONALIZATION cards.
  2. The second deck of cards (YELLOW cards) contains 300 possibilities to solve those scenarios in humorous ways. The game allows you to have fun while imagining the extreme disadvantages of life under a totalitarian regime. This YELLOW deck of cards also contains 5 COUP D’ÉTAT cards, 5 SECRET POLICE WARRANTS, and 5 BRIBE cards.

Absolutism presents you with scenarios of daily life in a totalitarian society, and the goal is to find creative solutions. But as no sane solutions can save you in a real dictatorship, in Absolutism your solutions will be absurd and hilarious relative to modern life values and choices.

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1. BASIC RULES

  1. To start the game, each “Party Member” player draws six YELLOW Victorious Party Membership Cards.
  2. The oldest player of them all begins as the “Victorious Party Leader”.
  3. The Party Leader draws a RED card, reads the scenario or the fill-in-the-blank phrase out loud, and places it on the table face up.
  4. All of the remaining Party Members propose a solution or fill in the blank by playing one YELLOW card, face down, on the table.
  5. The Victorious Party Leader shuffles all of the offered solutions and reads out loud each Yellow card. He can re-read the RED card again before presenting each solution.
  6. The Party Leader then chooses the YELLOW card that he or she believes is the most absurd and funny solution, and offers the best answer to the RED scenario card. The Party Member who submitted the chosen YELLOW card wins the round and keeps the Red card as a trophy.
  7. The game continues clockwise and the next player becomes the Party Leader and gets to draw the next glorious RED All the Party Members draw more YELLOW cards to bring their total back to six.
  8. The winner of the game is the Party Member with the biggest number of RED Cards and Badges of Honor after all the YELLOW cards have been used.

2. EXECUTIVE CARDS RULES

There are 10 RED cards called Executive cards. They contain orders from the Victorious Party’s Leadership. These orders are carried out in the name of the Party and the Motherland. Any wealth acquired through their execution will go back to the Party (back in the box).

  • There are 5 NATIONALIZATION cards.
    When the Party Leader draws a RED card containing a NATIONALIZATION order all the Party Members (including the Party Leader) must submit one of their won cards to the Party (RED card or Badge of Honor). If you haven’t won any, then you have nothing to submit. The same Leader then draws the next RED card.
  • There are 5 RE-EDUCATION cards.
    When the Party Leader draws a RED card containing a RE-EDUCATION order, each of the other players will place a YELLOW card of their choosing face up, starting with the player at the Party Leader’s left, in order to make a sentence. The composition of all submitted cards will be the Party’s new political platform.

Some YELLOW cards have alternative words to be used for RE-EDUCATION purpose only. You can use them to form a proper sentence.

During the RE-EDUCATION program only, the Party Members collaborate to defeat the Party Leader. If the new platform makes some sense and can be read from one card to the next like a public statement, only the Party Leader will loose one of his or her won cards (RED card or Badge of Honor) to the Party (back in the box). If the new platform doesn’t make sense, then each of the other players must loose one of their won cards (RED card or Badge of Honor) back to the Party (back in the box).

The player to the Party Leader’s left will then become the new Party Leader and draws a RED card.

3. SECRET CARDS RULES

There are 15 YELLOW cards called Secret cards. They contain secret activities. Some activities are carried out in the name of the Party and the Motherland, some by the people. Any wealth acquired by playing these cards will go back to the Party (back in the box).

  • There are 5 SECRET POLICE cards.
    When one of the Party Members draws a YELLOW card containing a SECRET POLICE WARRANTS, the player can act as a secret agent and use the card at any time against the Party Leader guilty of the crime mentioned on the warrant. That same crime will be represented on the card through a graphic symbol. Watch for the graphic symbols on the RED cards and strike when they match the ones on your YELLOW cards! The Party Leader must submit to the order on the SECRET POLICE WARRANT. Any wealth acquired through their execution will go back to the Party (back in the box).
  • There are 5 BRIBE cards.
    When one of the Party Members draws a YELLOW card containing a BRIBE, he or she can use it as a way of avoiding submission to an Executive card or a SECRET POLICE card.
    The BRIBE will pay the player’s way out of the NATIONALIZATION Order, the RE-EDUCATION Order, and the SECRET POLICE WARRANTS.
  • There are 5 COUP D’ÉTAT cards*.
    They contain instructions on how and when to strike an adversary. You should pay attention to the graphic symbol on the RED card and if it is the same as the one on your COUP D’ÉTAT card you should “strike”and defeat the Party.

All the Party Members, including the Party Leader, will have to give you either a previously won Badge of Honor or a RED card (in this order). If any of the players has neither, then you’re out of luck.

* Coup d’État — a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.

4. USE 2 OR 3 YELLOW CARDS RULE

Some of the RED cards ask players to “Use 2 YELLOW cards” when providing their solution. In this case, each player offers two YELLOW cards in combination, to respond to the two-part scenario described on the RED card.  Be aware that cards should be given to the Victorious Party Leader in the order in which they should be read.

There is one RED card that gives you the option to use 3 YELLOW cards. And that’s a special one.

5. BADGES OF HONOR

Every four rounds, the Party Member who has won the most Red cards by that point, will be decorated with a Badge of Honor. The current Party Leader should pick out 1 of the 6 Badge of Honor and make the award. In case of a tie between 2 players, they will play an extra round to choose the winner of the Badge.

Bonus: The rewarded Party Member may sing “Hail to the Chief” 3 times for the Victorious Party Leader.

6. Patriotic Duty

All players have ONE opportunity to replace all of their YELLOW cards and start anew if they give up one of their won RED cards. If they have nothing to give up, they should sing “Hail to the Chief” twice.