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"A leader is a dealer in hope."
— Napoleon Bonaparte
Sea levels have risen, causing severe land and resource shortages. Europe has erupted in war, and it's up to you to salvage what is left for your people.
Dealers in Hope is a deck-building game of conflict. As faction leaders, players vie for control of a future Europe that is a shell of its former glory. Build a deck that matches your faction's play style and take back the continent!
Each player controls a different faction leader with unique abilities and a unique starting deck. The leader you choose determines how you score victory points to win the game. Regardless, all leaders score a bulk of their points through conquest. On your turn, select an action by placing one of your tokens on the action board. Actions fall into one of three categories: Train (add cards to your deck), Reorganize (manipulate your deck), and Assault (attack territories). Action slots are limited, so it is essential to plan ahead and guess your opponents' moves.
Dealers in Hope uses several types of cards, with some types, i.e., professional cards, being selected randomly and others coming from the game's preset deck suggestions. Each set of professional cards has three levels — level 1, level 2, and master — and you must Train these increasingly powerful cards in order. Battles are fought via back-and-forth card play. Cards contain attack, defense, support, and (often) effects. The attacker plays as many cards as desired from their hand, then the defender gets a single chance to play cards in defense. Finally, the attacker gets one more chance to beat the defender. The winner gains/holds the territory, along with bonuses associated with that territory.
Unlike many games of this type, Dealers in Hope focuses not only on the military side of warfare, but also on the people behind the scenes: the civilians, masses, etc. who affect and are affected by the campaign.
—description from publisher
Dealers In Hope - How to Play
- Asymmetric faction design creates varied deck-building paths
- Map-based territory control with clear combat rules
- Two-era structure adds depth and progression
- Leader cards and faction-specific goals guide strategy
- Complex rules can be hard to grasp from the rulebook alone
- Potential for lengthy play sessions due to two eras and layered actions
- asymmetric faction-based deck-building and territorial conquest
- Europe-wide conflict across a two-era map where factions vie for control of territories and cities
- Array
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action board with cubes — Use action cubes to perform actions on a multi-space board and manage resources.
- Area Control — Control territories on a map by attacking and placing markers.
- combat resolution — Attacks compare strength totals against defender totals to determine success.
- Deck Building — Players start with faction-specific decks and acquire new cards to strengthen their deck.
- deck-building — Players start with faction-specific decks and acquire new cards to strengthen their deck.
- Era Progression — The game is played over two eras (early and late), with changes to actions and scoring.
- faction leaders — Leader cards provide unique synergies and influence deck-building choices.
- Hand Management — Refill hand to four cards per turn; some factions modify this size.
- Reclaim as Action — Reorganize action allows dismissing cards and gaining top Spoils of War.
- reorganize and dismiss — Reorganize action allows dismissing cards and gaining top Spoils of War.
- training and prerequisites — Level-based card training (levels 1, 2, Masters) with prerequisites and costs.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Dealers in Hope is a deck builder game with conflict.
- The objective is to gain points from acquiring territories and achieving other faction conditions that you have.
- The game is played over two eras.
- The start player marker is given to the player to the left.
- This game can be played many different ways and you should focus on your faction leader to see what advantages you have over the other players.