POWERPLAY is a question and answer game of political and social issues. The questions are based on 5 categories (committees): War, Environment, Commerce, State (International politics and policies), and Domestic Policy (U.S. policies and public opinions). There is a range difficulty from "lots of people know this" to "Wow! I didn't know that." More difficult questions have multiple choice answers and higher point (vote) value. Using political reasoning and/or logic can yield a correct answer even when it is not initially known.
The board for POWERPLAY resembles a Senate chamber. Players are "Senators". Each player/team gets a "Committee Table". The object of the game is to correctly answer questions in each category to gain "Committee Seats" as well as more votes than your opponents.
Strategies that can be used include:
answering multiple choice questions correctly before the answers are read gives the player double the votes for that question
censuring an opponent sends them to the censure room where they cannot answer questions to gain Committee Seats or votes
filibustering allows a player to remove votes from their opponents
players can remove opponents from Committees on which they have already gained a seat
players that have a Seat on every Committee have a choice: either allow their opponents to chose the category for the next question and automatically win with a correct answer or continue playing and maintaining control over which category questions will be answered.
POWERPLAY game pieces are made of wood.