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?
It’s election time! (Finally) POLITKO is a card game about wacky scheming, cynical realpolitik—in other words, it is a game about winning the Malaysian general election!
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
It’s election time! (Finally) POLITKO is a card game about wacky scheming, cynical realpolitik—in other words, it is a game about winning the Malaysian general election! Janji ditepati! (Promises fulfilled) Woo voters with cash handouts, hudud law, or petrol subsidies. Pencapaian diutamakan! (Performance First) Hire phantom voters. Control the media. Cook up a sex scandal to alienate your enemy’s supporters or betray your own allies! Lawan tetap lawan! (Let's Fight For Victory!) Choose from 9 distinct (and familiar) political parties to lead to victory. 1Malaysia! Play with up to 6 friends, of any race. But are they really your friends? Remember: it’s not about the people. It’s about Putrajaya. HOW TO PLAY: In Politiko, you are the leader of a Malaysian Political Party, To win, your party must be the first to have 8 voter cards. Every player chooses one PARTY. Shuffle the rest of the deck and deal 7 cards to each player. On your turn, you: 1) Draw 2 cards from the deck 2) Either: - Play any number of VOTERS into your Party VOTER deck. There must comply with your Party voter restrictions (eg. by race, demographics and liberal/conservative) OR - Play 2 Schemes (Action cards). Schemes allow you to discard cards from others, steal cards etc. You may also form Alliances, trade cards with allies, or withdraw from Alliances. 3) Discard down to 7 cards in your hand