How to Play

Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory

2-4 players 90-180 min 8.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Hegemony is an asymmetric card-driven game where 2-4 players represent different socioeconomic classes—Working Class, Capitalists, Middle Class, or the State—in a struggling nation. Players pursue distinct agendas through strategic actions and political maneuvering while navigating shared policies on taxation, labor, and trade. Victory comes from gaining the most influence and successfully implementing your class's objectives.

Published 2023

Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Game structure
The game is played over 5 rounds with end-game scoring, where each round has 5 phases
2
Player roles
Four players control different classes: Working Class (W), Middle Class (M), Capitalist Class (C), and State (S)
3
Component limits
Only money is unlimited; unskilled and skilled workers are complementary components
4
Worker placement rules
Skilled slots require skilled workers; unskilled slots accept either unskilled or skilled workers
5
Skip first round preparation
Phase 1 (Preparation) is skipped during the first round

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Move round marker
Advance the marker to track the current round
2
Pay interest on loans
Pay ¥5 per loan held
3
Drop prosperity
Working Class loses 1 prosperity; Middle Class loses 2 prosperity
4
Reveal events and political agenda
In 4-player games, replace cards with new ones
5
Draw action cards
Draw 5 new cards (can keep up to 2 leftover for 7 total)
6
Reveal new companies
Discard any and draw up to 3 (Middle Class) or 4 (Capitalist Class)
7
Draw business deal and export card
Discard any and draw 1-2 Business Deals; replace Export card
8
Get workers and adjust population
Working Class gets 2 unskilled; Middle Class gets 1 unskilled plus 1 skilled; each draws 1-2 immigration cards
9
Turn order
Working Class, then Middle Class, then Capitalist Class, then State
10
One main action per turn
Use a card for its effect OR perform one Basic Action
11
One free action per turn
Perform one free action before or after your main action
12
Propose bill
Place a bill (not already proposed) at +/- 1 step; optionally spend 1 influence cube to carry out an election
13
Apply political pressure
Add 3 cubes to the bag
14
Sell to foreign market
Once per transaction; Middle Class gains 1 victory point per transaction; State can only sell goods
15
Assign workers
Commit 1-3 non-committed workers (new companies fill all slots; Working Class Trade Unions always take 4)
16
Buy goods and services
Purchase up to population limit per source (1 type, 2 sources); Middle Class moves storage to Goods & Services for free
17
Build company
Pay money, set wage, and place workers (Capitalist Class uses Unemployed Workers in 1C slots; Middle Class must use Middle Class workers plus optional Unemployed Workers)
18
Sell company
Remove a company without committed workers; gain money and return workers to Unemployed Workers
19
Strike
Place 1-2 strikes on companies (uncommitted or at levels 1-2); affected companies move to level 3 or produce nothing (Middle Class just loses bonus); gain 1 influence cube per strike
20
Demonstration
If Unemployed Workers has 2+ available slots, Working Class gains 1 influence cube; other players lose victory points equal to Unemployed Workers plus Trade Unions (one action fills up to one empty company)
21
Extra shift
A company with non-committed Middle Class workers (plus non-committed Working Class) commits and produces (pay Working Class wages); committed Working Class workers receive no wage or bonus
22
Make business deal
Pay money; goods go to storage (plus tariffs) or Free Trade Zone; discard the deal
23
Lobby
Pay ¥30 from Capital to gain 3 influence cubes
24
Event action
Execute the event (spend means cannot buy; provide means can buy and discard previous items); gain rewards and discard the event
25
Meet with a party's MPs
Give 2 personal influence cubes to a class to increase its Legitimacy by 1
26
Extra tax
Take ¥10 from each player (they may take loans); reduce Legitimacy by 1 for the 2 lowest Legitimacy classes
27
Campaign
Convert up to 3 media influence cubes into personal influence cubes
28
Pay off loan
Pay ¥50 (Capitalist Class uses Capital) to discard one loan (maximum 1 per action)
29
Receive benefits
In 4-player games, take State Benefits (any voting cubes return to bag); State gains 1 victory point
30
Adjust wages
Raising wages commits workers; committed workers cannot have wages lowered
31
Use healthcare
Spend 1 Goods & Services per population to gain 1 prosperity and 2 victory points; move unskilled worker to Unemployed Workers
32
Use education
Spend 1 Goods & Services per population to gain 1 prosperity and upgrade 1 worker to skilled
33
Use luxury
Spend 1 Goods & Services per population to gain 1 prosperity
34
Swap workers
Exchange skilled workers in unskilled slots with Unemployed Workers (keep committed status or non-committed)
35
Adjust prices
Change any or all prices by any value
36
Give bonus
Pay ¥5 to an operational company's class; that company becomes committed
37
Buy storage
Pay ¥20 for a storage tile beneath a resource (maximum 1 tile per action per resource)
38
Produce goods and services
Pay and stand workers; produce goods to storage (excess goes to Free Trade Zone); Working Class produces 1 resource per Trade Union
39
Cover needs
Spend 1 food per population (from Goods & Services, storage, buying, or taking a loan)
40
IMF check
If State loans are at or above Fiscal Policy maximum and cannot pay off at ¥55, trigger IMF Intervention
41
Pay taxes
Income tax (Working Class population, Middle Class non-companies), employment tax (operational companies times Tax Modifier for Middle Class and Capitalist Class), corporate tax (Capitalist Class); all taxes go to State
42
Refill bag
Working Class adds half population; Capitalist Class adds half operational companies; Middle Class adds maximum of the two (all round up)
43
Gain influence
State gains influence cubes based on media per lowest Legitimacy
44
Carry out elections
Execute each policy separately using the Elections procedure
45
Vote in turn order
Each player votes in favor (✓) or against (✕)
46
Draw voting cubes
Draw 5 cubes from the bag (if empty, refill bag twice without giving influence to State); assign cubes to ✓ or ✕
47
Spend influence secretly
Announce total influence; secretly spend any influence cubes and reveal simultaneously (State uses personal influence); assign to ✓ or ✕
48
Determine outcome
Pass (✓ ≥ ✕) means move policy marker, proposer gains 3 victory points, supporters with 1+ vote gain 1 victory point; Fail (✓ < ✕) means move to next policy
49
Clean up
Discard all influence cubes and winning cubes; losing cubes return to bag; update board state if needed; return player bill markers
50
Fiscal Policy
Build public company using Unemployed Workers in 1C slots (commit); sell public company to gain money and return workers to Unemployed Workers
51
Labor Market
Must adjust wages
52
Taxation
Must adjust Tax Modifier equal to base value plus Welfare modifier (A doubles, B is normal, C has no effect)
53
Welfare State: Health & Benefits
May adjust price; State gains bonus (A gives +1 Legitimacy per 3 sold; B gives 1 victory point)
54
Welfare State: Education
May adjust price; State gains bonus (A gives +1 Legitimacy per 3 sold; B gives 1 victory point)
55
Foreign Trade
Must adjust import; may adjust price
56
Immigration
Players resolve separately; used cards go to bottom of deck
57
Trade Union bonus
Working Class gains 2 victory points per Trade Union
58
Prosperity penalty
Middle Class loses 1 prosperity (and victory points) if current prosperity is less than own fully operational companies (with 2 workers)
59
Capital conversion
Convert Revenue to Capital; gain victory points per wealth track based on Capital plus 3 victory points per step increased
60
Event penalty
If no action was taken on an event, gain victory points per 2 lowest Legitimacy, then drop Legitimacy by half (round up), add Legitimacy from tokens, and gain victory points per Agenda
61
Loan restrictions
Take loans only when forced to pay, not for optional purchases (building companies, buying non-food items, playing cards)
62
Discard bills
Each bill provides 1 influence cube to its proposer
63
Reset politics table
Change to 1C, 2C, 3A, 4B, 5C, 6B, 7B and apply effects (all wages drop to Level 1)
64
Pay off loans
Pay ¥55 per loan; discard all unpaid loans
65
Lose Legitimacy
All Legitimacy is reduced to half (round up)

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Victory condition
The player with the most victory points wins
2
First tiebreaker
Count aligned policies (Working Class counts A Policies; Middle Class counts B Policies; Capitalist Class counts C Policies; State counts policies matching Political Agenda)
3
Second tiebreaker
State wins if among the tied players; otherwise the player with the most voting cubes wins
4
Third tiebreaker
Tied players share victory
5
Repay loans
Pay ¥55 per loan; lose 1 victory point per ¥5 unpaid (round up)
6
Remaining resources
Working Class gains 1 victory point per 2 food plus 1 victory point per 3 other resources (no media)

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FULL rules

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