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?
SHASN is a political strategy board game where every player takes on the role of a politician in the midst of a political campaign. With each turn, players must draw an Ideology Card and take stands on divisive and urgent political issues.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Alliances
Players can cooperate through temporary or formal partnerships while pursuing victory.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Take That
Direct negative effects at selected opponents.
Read the full game description
SHASN is a political strategy board game where every player takes on the role of a politician in the midst of a political campaign. With each turn, players must draw an Ideology Card and take stands on divisive and urgent political issues. These choices will help them gather resources to influence voters or purchase strategic powers. Players can build diverse Ideologies with every policy decision, to best reflect their beliefs and play style. As they progress in the game, players must choose between sticking to their ideals or molding them as per their needs. In a game of trading, coercion, and strategy, players must do whatever it takes to survive and dominate. The map is split into 9 zones with each zone having a different voter-count required to form a majority. The player with the highest majority votes - when all majorities are formed - wins the game. To influence voters, players will need unique combinations of the four resources at their disposal - (campaign) Funds, Media (attention), (public) Trust and (street) Clout. At the beginning of their turn, each player must answer an Ideology Card. Every answer on an Ideology Card belongs to one Ideologue. There are four Ideologues in the game - The Capitalist, The Showstopper, The Supremo, and The Idealist. As players collect more cards belonging to one Ideologue, they will unlock new powers that can help them cement their own positions or destabilize opponents. Players must constantly juggle with the trade-off of giving answers that grant them the resources they need in that moment or investing in long term strategy with answers that strengthen their Ideologies to unlock greater combos later in the game. Players must also navigate the effects of Headlines (triggered by placing Vters in volatile zones) and Conspiracy Cards (which can be purchased at any time in the game), providing them with a wide toolset to seize power or throw a spanner in the works of a rival. Placing you in the shoes of a politician, the gameplay is often aggressive, action-packed and laden with long-term strategy building.