CONTENTS
28 playable cards
2 rules cards
30 cards total
RULES
The rules are short and easy to learn. The official rules are incorporated into the deck (printed directly on a card). Here’s the entire rules…
SET UP
Setting up the game is easy too…
ADJUSTING DIFFICULTY
Adjusting difficulty is easy and fun. Here’s some info, pointers, and ideas on this topic…
1. MORE RED: If you desire to increase the difficulty, simply add more red to the deck and less blue. The opposite is true as well.
2. HIGHER NUMBERS: If you desire to increase the difficulty, simply add more Red Level-2 cards to the deck and less Blue Level-2 cards. The opposite is true as well.
3. COMBINATION: by using the above two tools, you can engineer almost anything you want in terms of difficulty level. Keep in mind that it is possible for you to make the entire deck Red (bad cards), Blue (good cards), or anything between.
4. FORCED REWARDS: If you wish to make the game extremely hard, you will likely want to add this rule. The rule dictates that players MUST take rewards in the game when offered. This forces players to ALSO take the Lying Politician Card that accompanies the reward. Without this rule, if you stack the deck with cards that are excessively difficult, players will (potentially) always conclude that taking the reward is the wrong decision, but this is not fun! By requiring that players take the rewards and the Lying Polictian card (both) we avoid this problem and the path to notching up the difficulty as high as you like is wide open.
5. DECK REDUCTION: If you decide to Reduce the size of the initial set-up deck you are effectively making the game easier because you will reach a point in the game SOONER whereby the Lying Politicians deck has been exhausted, which enables players to take rewards without needing to take a Lying Politician card (which is a good thing unless you happen to have stacked the deck with more Blue Cards then Red).
6. LEVEL COUNT: The following are the counts for each difficulty level in Set A…
Blue Level-2 = 5 total cards
Blue Level-1 = 9 total cards
Red Level-1 = 9 total cards
Red Level-2 = 5 total cards
7. VARIANTS: Below you will find a variety of variants for playing the game. They are an easy way to adjust difficulty and create variety.
VARIANTS
The variants all stem from different ways of setting up the deck in the beginning of the game. The default method for this is listed in the section above called “Set-Up”, but let’s now take a look at a few other ways it could be done. For fun and variety sake, feel free to try any and all of these. Also, if you figure out a new set-up or way to play, please feel free to make tell us (and the community) about it by posting in the forums section on the Boardgamegeek page for Police Precinct OR on the page especially for Lying Politicians!
Preview Variant
This method allows groups to know what is in the final deck so that they can plan for it. To finalize this set-up, follow the same three steps as was done in the default set-up and then add these two steps…
Step Four — look at all of the 17 cards
Step Five — Shuffle the 17 cards
Control Variant
This method allows groups to stack their deck with their favorite cards. To finalize this set-up, follow the same three steps as was done in the default except that during Step Two, you would not randomly select the cards, you would look at the cards and select the ones you desire!
Zero-Out Variant
With this method, you can use any number of cards in the deck and any number of cards in each group/level so long as the total for all the cards adds up to zero. Example: 4 Level Two Negative cards combined with 8 Level One Positive Cards would create a deck of 12 cards that adds up to zero. The end result of this set-up will be an easier game than the default method. This is true because the default deck has a negative four overall score. Also keep in mind that reducing the size of the deck makes it easier. This approach is great for anyone who wants to reduce the difficulty AND make their own deck!
Negative Five Plus Variant
This approach is just like the “Zero-Out” (see above) except that the intent is to INCREASE the difficulty of play. In this case, stack your deck in any way you wish so long as the overall score is Negative Five or greater. If it is, and if the number of cards in the deck is at or above the 17 mark, then you will have created your own deck that is HARDER than the default.
Bigger Lies Variant
This involves increasing the difficulty by making the deck bigger. It works just like the default method except that you would add one more card to each category for a total of 21 cards instead of 17. The final mix would look like this…
Blue Level-2 = 3 cards
Blue Level-1 = 6 cards
Red Level-1 = 8 cards
Red Level-2 = 4 cards
Russian Roulette Variant
In this one, you never know what you’re gonna get. It could be chaos in the streets, or relative peace and quite. Set-up starts with two 10-card piles that look like this:
STACK A (The Loaded Chamber)
Blue Level-2 = 1 cards
Blue Level-1 = 1 cards
Red Level-1 = 4 cards
Red Level-2 = 4 cards
STACK B (The Empty Chamber)
Blue Level-2 = 4 cards
Blue Level-1 = 4 cards
Red Level-1 = 1 cards
Red Level-2 = 1 cards
Then, from the remaining cards, deal out 6 random cards.
Next, combine the 6 random cards with one of the two 10-card stacks, but make sure that the stack you use is randomly selected.
Now you should have 16 cards ready to go for your game and you should have no idea if they are stacked against you or in your favor. Shuffle the 16 cards and begin play after placing the remaining cards in the box.
All-In Variant
This is the easiest one to set-up. Simply shuffle the cards (all of them) and place face-down. That’s it, you’re ready to play!
SETS
The plan for this expansion is to grow it using “Sets”. The first “Set” (known as Set A) was born through stretch goals during the UPLIFT Kickstarter Campaign. Set A is 28 playable cards plus 2 rules cards. The plan is to add another set in some future Kickstarter, and possibly in EVERY future Kickstarter. In early 2016 we will be running a campaign for Season II of Police Precinct and see this as a likely candidate for a series of Stretch Goals. Over time there might be several sets totaling over 100 cards. That is the direction we would like to see Lying Politicians headed.
GALLERY
To take a look at the entire deck go HERE. Keep in mind the following when viewing:
1. It’s a Low res version with crop marks, etc
2. The card images are in a special order starting with the back of card number 1, then its front, followed by the back of card 2, then its front, and so on.
Here’s a sample of one card…
BUYING
If you desire to get your hands on Lying Politicians, the best way to do that is to back any Common Kickstarter such as the upcoming one. When you do this, you can acquire prior sets (like Set A) via an add-on approach, but in some case you will be able to get brand-new sets free thanks to stretch goals. To be sure to NOT miss out on the next campaign, please sign up here…
SIGN-UP FORM:
The best part of this form is how dang SHORT it is! Just input your email address and you’re DONE!
DESIGNER’S CORNER
Dave Kudzma is the designer of this aspect of the Ole Steiness game Police Precinct. It has been a great pleasure for us at Common Man Games to have been able to work with Dave in the development process, and to ultimately publish this unique addition to the game. Thanks Dave!
Thoughts from Dave:
My first though is to mention that it’s been a huge honor to be able to work on an Ole Steiness title. From the moment I first saw Police Precinct a fire sparked inside me that I can’t put out. Ole’s masterpiece offers so many ways to expand and evolve that my mind just keeps racing. I really do lose sleep just thinking about it. Lying Politicians has been a really fun way to start to see some of that take hold. Watching this deck grow over time will be fun, plus I hope to bring several other expansions out over the coming years.
Dave’s Personal Favorite Way to Play:
There’s so many different fun ways to play, but I guess my all time favorite is to go with a deck of 20 cards set-up like this…
Three Level-2 Blue Cards
Seven Level-1 Blue Cards
Seven Level-1 Red Cards
Three Level-2 Red Cards
Dave’s Team
The following individuals have played a vital role in the design process of Lying Politicians: Kathy Kudzma, Jonathan Marshall, David Blisard, & Michael Paglairo