You play a Party member in a totalitarian regime facing grave crises. Each crisis can be resolved through reforms or repressions but each Party member has his or her own secret preferences.
Each Party member is either a Reformist, a Repressionist or a Nationalist. To win a ”Faction victory” for the Reformists or the Repressionists, you must name all your faction members (no more, no less). Failure to do so give the other faction a chance. Too many failures (depending on the player count) awards the Nationalists the victory.
If the game ends before a Faction victory, Party Members score VP for resolutions according to their personal preferences instead, e.g. Yeltsin wants to repress Economy and reform Security. The Party members with the most VP share a ”Personal victory”.
The players take turns to play the following phases:
Seat: Play a seat token next to two Crises.
Vote: If all seats are occupied, play a secret vote for a resolution (Reform/Repress a department).
Purge: If the vote is not unanimous, simul-taneously point out a Party member to purge and have his or her seat token removed.
Coup: Optionally stage coups by naming your faction members.
The game ends either through a Faction victory or if all seat tokens are played and/or all crises resolved, in which case a Personal victory decides the winners.
—description from the publisher