Conversation · Suzerainty: The Board Game

Alternatively, you could throw the whole game away by trying to build a public education system for the children of your workers...

Say nothing.

That's brilliant.

What does that have to do with the game?

Ignore the thought.

Invest in your existing workers.

To the lieutenant's puzzlement, you spend several turns building various improvements to your territorial infrastructure...

Soon your workers have access to clean water, paved roads, and basic hobbies. In return they produce... one extra resource per turn.

Gaze on your workers like a benevolent parent.

"Hmmm, too bad investing in your workers just isn't worth many points."

"What do you mean?"

"Take a look at the scoring tables in the back..." The lieutenant turns to one of those appendices you skipped over earlier...

"You see in Table 8c that investing in territorial infrastructure multiplies your final victory point total by 1x, which is to say, not at all, whereas erecting monuments in Revachol gives you a multiplier of 5x..."

"So you're saying I fucked up?"

"Yes, precisely."

Nonsense. Remember what the lieutenant said? If points are arbitrary, who cares about winning? You should reject their system and just play how you want.

"So you're saying the values of the ruling class are completely divorced from the well-being of the people who generate their wealth?"

"So you're saying I should treat my workers like disposable labour instead?"

Grimace at them for not working harder.

"Kim, what should I do?"

"That's up to you, detective. But remember, the objective of the game is to earn victory points for the suzerain..."

"You should probably pick one strategy and stick to it. Trying to do a little of everything is usually a bad idea."

"But what about the workers?"

"The workers are just there to produce raw resources. You're not supposed to worry about them too much."

The lieutenant assumes you're playing by the rules as written. But what's the point of playing if you can't make your own choices?

"Why don't we say 'screw the suzerain' and keep it all for ourselves?"

"Because the way you earn points is by pleasing the suzerain, and the player with the most points wins the game."

"I'm bored with this. Let's finish the game later."

"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.

It's your move.

Press more workers into service.

Using your powers of 'persuasion', you 'convince' more workers to join your cause...

After several turns your worker tokens greatly outnumber the lieutenant's. A vast army of expendable labour is at your command.

Gaze on your workers like a harsh, but proud, deity.

Take pity on their miserable lives.

What do you do?

"Hmmm... this doesn't look right to me. I think we need to start over, unfortunately..."

The lieutenant goes first. He draws a contract card and moves several of his workers to the Safre territory of the board and the others to the Semenine Islands...

"Alright, detective. Your turn."

You have a few options available to you: Will you try to fulfil contracts right away or rearrange your workers to maximize production on future turns?

Remember what the rulebook said! You'll want to choose a strategy early on and stay committed to it.

Let your workers rest for a while.

What? It's the very beginning of the game. Your workers haven't even done any work yet.

Okay, make them work a little, but not too much.

That's more like it. You produce a handful of archaeological treasures and a smattering of other resources.

Meanwhile, the lieutenant spends two of his sugar and one of his apricot tokens to complete his contract card. He is rewarded with four coins and a round wooden token that he places in the centre of the board...

"That's a market. It's worth two victory points."

Glower silently.

The lieutenant returns your baleful look with a satisfied grin.

C'mon, is that your game face? You're practically broadcasting your position to the lieutenant with that expression.

"Hey, why don't I get one of those?"

"Don't worry, it was mostly just luck. You'll earn some points soon enough."

What is that patronizing tone? You're one of the suzerain's trusted administrators! You may need to put the lieutenant in his place...

"I'm not even sure what points are -- that's part of the problem."

"Points are nothing. They don't exist. They're just an arbitrary convention that games use to reward or punish players for certain behaviours."

If points are really arbitrary, as the lieutenant says, what's to stop you from playing the game the way you want?

"Am I getting points right now?" (Look around.)

The lieutenant shrugs. "There are some paranoid types who believe the Moralintern keeps detailed score sheets for everyone in the Reál Belt, but that's obviously nonsense..."