Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
The island of Oshra is in turmoil. Following the death of the Emperor, the conflict between the Hill Tribes and the Imperial Army escalated.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Hidden Roles
Players conceal team, loyalty, or identity information from one another.
Deduction
Combine clues and exclusions to identify hidden information.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Take That
Direct negative effects at selected opponents.
Track Movement
Advance pieces along a defined linear or branching track.
Tug of War
Competing actions pull a shared marker or advantage back and forth.
Read the full game description
The island of Oshra is in turmoil. Following the death of the Emperor, the conflict between the Hill Tribes and the Imperial Army escalated. While the Water People try to maintain balance between the old rivals, the Undead aim to escalate the war. All hope rests on the six children of the Emperor: Who of them will claim the throne? In Hidden Leaders, you take the role of one of six secret leaders, each of them is allied with two of the four factions/colors. By playing heroes into your tableau, either openly or secretly, you influence the outcome of the conflict. At the end of the game, one of the four factions will win: Red leading > Red victory Green leading > Green victory Tie between Red & Green > Blue victory Red & Green in War Zone > Black victory Each player who is aligned with the winning faction can claim the victory. However, they must have more heroes of this color than any competitor. Hidden Leaders is a quick, light strategy card game with direct player interaction. It combines tableau building and deduction elements with its unique winning mechanism. This is a game of great tension with no-down time, that’s fast to learn. Its distinctive artwork and character names will make you smile. —description from designer