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SHASN is a political strategy board game where every player takes on the role of a politician in the midst of a political campaign. With each turn, players must draw an Ideology Card and take stands on divisive and urgent political issues. These choices will help them gather resources to influence voters or purchase strategic powers. Players can build diverse Ideologies with every policy decision, to best reflect their beliefs and play style. As they progress in the game, players must choose between sticking to their ideals or molding them as per their needs. In a game of trading, coercion, and strategy, players must do whatever it takes to survive and dominate.
The map is split into 9 zones with each zone having a different voter-count required to form a majority. The player with the highest majority votes - when all majorities are formed - wins the game. To influence voters, players will need unique combinations of the four resources at their disposal - (campaign) Funds, Media (attention), (public) Trust and (street) Clout. At the beginning of their turn, each player must answer an Ideology Card. Every answer on an Ideology Card belongs to one Ideologue. There are four Ideologues in the game - The Capitalist, The Showstopper, The Supremo, and The Idealist. As players collect more cards belonging to one Ideologue, they will unlock new powers that can help them cement their own positions or destabilize opponents.
Players must constantly juggle with the trade-off of giving answers that grant them the resources they need in that moment or investing in long term strategy with answers that strengthen their Ideologies to unlock greater combos later in the game.
Players must also navigate the effects of Headlines (triggered by placing Vters in volatile zones) and Conspiracy Cards (which can be purchased at any time in the game), providing them with a wide toolset to seize power or throw a spanner in the works of a rival.
Placing you in the shoes of a politician, the gameplay is often aggressive, action-packed and laden with long-term strategy building.
SHASN: Discussion
- Intriguing game due to controversial topics.
- Ideology cards push the game forward.
- Easy to grasp and questions are pertinent.
- Stirs conversation and is a conversational starter.
- Clean and effective area control aspect.
- Conspiracy and headline cards are thematic.
- Good educational potential.
- Tongue-in-cheek tone with discussions.
- Unique game on the market.
- Thematic for the political aspect.
- Can have legitimate discussions.
- Multiplayer (4-5 players) is rated highly (8-9/10).
- Two-player experience is very poor (rated 3/10).
- Supremo player is heavily overpowered in two-player.
- Conspiracy cards can be disgusting in two-player.
- Rulebook is bad, doesn't clearly explain turn actions.
- Two-player rules feel tacked on.
- Some cards lean heavily one-sided.
- Edge case scenarios are not clear.
- Misplays can lock players out of ending the game.
- Can stalemate or drag on too long.
- Political strategy
- Hegemony
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — The area control aspect I think is clean, it works, you get a lot of cool moves.
- Card Drafting — Players draft cards to gain abilities or sway votes.
- Deck Building — Deck building mechanics are implied through the use of cards.
- Resource Management — Simple Resource Management that you use to buy numbered cards to place in zones.
- Set Collection — Players collect sets of cards to achieve objectives.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is not a go to the local game store and play with rando's game.
- Nowadays everyone's just so angry that I feel like you almost have to tiptoe around who you play this with.
- The ideology cards kind of help dictate it and push it along in a very interesting way.
- Supremo was busted especially since I went showstopper originally.
- The two-player game is heavily op.
- This game is great not at two.
- It's serviceable at two, you can play this at two, should you? No.
- It's a great, you know area control with a lovely little party twist that's a conversation starter.
- The fact that it's from from like an Indian developer an Indian designer and Publishing Company.
- There's no Towing the line in this game, it's one side or the other.
- Can have legitimate discussions is I think a feat in and of itself honestly.
References (from this video)
- Highly interactive and tactical with a tense, bristling table dynamic
- Unique hybrid feel that blends party-game flavor with tight area control
- Power progression through multiple ideology cards adds depth
- Conspiracy and headline mechanics create dramatic shifts and momentum swings
- Home territories module adds meaningful variability and strategic options
- Strong production quality and high replayability across decks
- Significant randomness from ideology cards and resource draws
- Long playing time and a slow start before powers stabilize
- Can be divisive or confrontational, not ideal for all groups
- Narrative prompts and sensitive political topics require careful group fit
- Balancing issues can occur when some players acquire higher-level powers
- Political influence, voter manipulation, ideology alignment, and power struggles
- Modern political campaigns inspired by Brexit UK 2019-2020 and USA 2022-2023 cycles
- Ideology-driven campaign flavor with take-that conflict and dynamic scoring
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- conspiracy_cards — One-time power cards that can significantly shift board state when played.
- gerrymandering — Players gain rights to move voters between regions, introducing strategic region shaping.
- headlines — Headline cards introduce negative events that create risk and tension on the board.
- home_territories_module — Optional module granting each territory distinct power or drawback to shape play.
- ideology_cards — Each ideology card drives resource generation and unlocks powers tied to that ideology.
- Resource Management — Players collect and spend resources to influence voters and activate powers.
- resource_management — Players collect and spend resources to influence voters and activate powers.
- territory_control — Regions with majority voters determine endgame scoring; area control is central.
- voter_manipulation — Voters are moved and influenced; majority voters are harder to affect and have endgame implications.
- Voting — Voters are moved and influenced; majority voters are harder to affect and have endgame implications.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a very mean brutal swingy area control game at its core
- Randomness because to buy voters to put them on a board you need very specific resources
- home territories go a long way to making it a more robust game
- Powers let players move or remove previously unassailable majority voters
- it's unique in our collection
- it's a long game
- the production is obviously brilliant
- this is a very interactive tactical opportunistic experience
- you'll need a group who is okay with that sort of gameplay
- the cards are just a vehicle to provide the players with resources and powers
References (from this video)
- Array
- Array
- Knowledge acquisition, personal growth, and mastery, tempered by social interaction through trivia and duels.
- Array
- A Chinese-inspired mythic setting centered on the Wuang clan, where players begin as students and strive to become masters through knowledge and skill.
- Array
- Array
- Array
- positive
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "handdrawn calligraphy from Xian Ming has metal coins and painted minis"
- "it's this great mashup where you start out as a student and you are trying to become a master of shayin by mastering knowledge of the wuang clan and sharing that with the world"
- "two phases there's a movement phase and a resolution phase"
- "flip over one of the trivia cards"
- "answer it correctly and you get two points"