Conversation · Suzerainty: The Board Game

You know, this isn't unlike the situation the historical Revacholian suzerainty faced in Safre in the middle of the last century...

Tell me more.

Well, the suzerain was looking for new markets for all the cocaine it was producing, and it settled on Safre...

By introducing cocaine into Safre under exclusive contract, the suzerain created an extremely valuable captive market for an extremely addictive product.

That's fucked up!

If you could somehow get the lieutenant's workers addicted to your cocaine, you could not only make them less productive, you would also force the lieutenant to pay you for your cocaine tokens each turn...

Can you even do that?

Yes, you can. It's right there in the rules...

Now's your chance. Show the lieutenant what happens when he patronizes you.

You've reached a critical strategic juncture. How do you respond to the lieutenant's aggression?

"Rock and roll, baby." (Go for the contract.)

It takes several turns, but you slowly begin accumulating the cocaine necessary to complete the contract. When you do, it practically rains cardboard coins on your side...

Feels good, doesn't it? But you know what would feel even better?

Solving the murder?

Drugs. Specifically uppers. Speaking of, aren't you supposed to be looking for some right about now?

While you daydream about speed, the lieutenant has built himself a formidable economic engine of his own...

The endgame is upon you. How will you spend the vast resources you've acquired for the glory of the suzerain?

Flipping through the manual, you find the most expensive structure in the game... the Revacholian victory column, worth twelve victory points. If you can successfully build it, victory will be all-but assured...

Alternatively, you could try launching a trade war to crush the lieutenant's economy, or you could blow all that money on a public education system for your worker tokens...

Drugs. Specifically uppers. That's an itch... in the back of your neck and elsewhere...

Drugs. Specifically uppers. You should find some the first chance you get.

You're going to say 'drugs,' aren't you?

Winning the game?

"Cha-CHING, Kim!"

Despite your trash-talking, the lieutenant still has a formidable store of coins and resources...

Stack the coins in neat little piles to annoy the lieutenant.

Despite your conspicuous display of wealth, the lieutenant still has a formidable store of coins and resources...

Give back to the workers.

Instead of focussing on amassing points, you embark on a quixotic project to win the hearts of your worker tokens. After several turns you've unlocked advanced hobbies and health insurance. Your workers now produce an extra two resources per turn...

"You do realize the game is called Suzerainty and not Workers' Paradise, right?"

"What's the point of playing a game if I can't make my own choices?"

"Well, winning is usually the point of playing games. Here, watch this..."

The lieutenant continues his strategy of aggressively producing apricots for export. He fulfils contract after contract, racking up ever more victory points...

"I'm just trying to do right by the people who actually generate the suzerain's wealth."

"I don't think the suzerain cares much about the welfare of its workers. Here, watch this..."

"I'm rejecting the arbitrary so-called 'points' system developed by this game's politically compromised game designers."

"Yes, you're really sticking it to the game designers, just like I'm about to stick it to you..."

Attack the lieutenant and steal all his resources.

"You can't do that, detective," the lieutenant says as you move all of your pieces onto one of his territories.

"I make the rules now."

"I'm not going to play with you if you're going to act like a child. Now come on, take your turn."

The lieutenant isn't joking. You'd better stop fooling around.

"So what can I do?"

"Well, I suppose you could try fulfilling some contracts, or you might try to relocate your workers. There are any number of strategies open to you."

It's true. Had you read the rules more carefully this would have been abundantly clear.

"What do you mean? I just did."

"This is a game of economic strategy. You can't directly attack the other players. You'll have to do something else."

"I'm bored with this. Let's do something else."

"Are you sure?" The lieutenant looks a little disappointed. "It's going to take a while to set everything up again."

Put the game away.

Keep playing.

"Sorry, Kim, you're not going to like this..." (Introduce the lieutenant's workers to cocaine.)

"Hrm..." The lieutenant's face goes stony as you take your turn. He does not appreciate you getting all his workers addicted to cocaine...

With each passing turn you slowly bleed the lieutenant of coins as his own workers become less productive and more dependent on your magenta cocaine tokens.

As a matter of historical fact, this is almost exactly what happened in Safre. To this day, fully half of the former Safre Empire remains dependant on international aid in exchange for a steady supply of cheap produce.

"Just like they did to Safre."

"More or less," the lieutenant says, but he's thinking less about matters of historical wrongdoing than how to get out of the jam you've put him in...

Realising victory is slipping away, the lieutenant launches a desperate gambit: Protectionism. By erecting tariffs on your cocaine he hopes to starve you out of the market at the risk of incurring the suzerain's disfavour...

The endgame is upon you. Do you escalate the trade war with the lieutenant in hopes of crushing him with your economic might?

Or do you ignore his aggression and focus on building the mighty victory column structure in Revachol herself?