v.83 Playtest Changelog - The Political Machine 2024

Core

• Added new cards and 2 new decks – Authoritarianism and Anarchism

• Balanced and fixed various Political Action Cards

• Gameplay adjustments and Quality of Life improvements

Deck Updates

• NEW - Added Authoritarianism Deck

• NEW - Added Anarchism Deck

  • New decks are not assigned to any established candidates, you must assign them using custom candidates.

• Deck Viewer updates

  • Now can see how much of each card you have left in your deck in game

  • Fixed bug where scrolling in deck viewer window scrolled the camera

New Political Action Cards

• Authoritarianism Deck

  • Charismatic Leader – cost: 7

    • Increase the effectiveness of Speeches by 150% for 7 turns in all states

  • Military Backing – cost: 20

    • Play in Target State. If active after 4 turns, significantly increases Importance, Stance, and Position on Strong Military in all states.

  • Military Escort - cost: 5

    • For 4 turns cause minor increase to importance of Strong Military in State occupied at end of turn.

  • National Pride Brigade – cost: 7

    • Form a National Pride Brigade in Target State. No cards can be played on that state for 7 Turns.

  • Propaganda Blitz: 1 – cost: 2

    • Play in Target State. On every turn, increases enthusiasm by 1% and reduces all opponents by 1% in all states. After 2 turns return to hand as Propaganda Blitz: 2.

  • Propaganda Blitz: 2 – cost: 2

    • Play in Target State. On every turn, increases enthusiasm by 2% and reduces all opponents by 2% in all states. After 2 turns return to hand as Propaganda Blitz: 3.

  • Propaganda Blitz: 3 – cost: 2

    • Play in Target State. On every turn, increases enthusiasm by 3% and reduces all opponents by 3% in all states. After 2 turns return to hand as Propaganda Blitz: Final.

  • Propaganda Blitz: Final – cost: 2

    • Play in Target State. On every turn, increases enthusiasm by 1% and reduces all opponents by 1% in all states.

• Anarchism Deck

  • Decentralize Authority Increase – cost: 3

    • Increase Target Player's stance on Decentralize Authority in all States.

  • Direct Team Involvement – cost: 5

    • For 2 turns, drastically increases Issue Importance of Decentralize Authority in target state. If active after 2 turns, return to hand.

  • Empower the Masses – cost: 20

    • Place in target state. If active after 4 Turns, all other candidates lose 80% Enthusiasm. Increases your Importance and Stance on Decentralize Authority.

  • Free Association Now – cost: 6

    • Seek endorsement from Free Association Now, a pro Decentralize Authority group, in target State.

  • Max Thunderstruck – cost: 3

    • Gain support from Max Thunderstruck, best remembered as the frontperson for rock band Negative Voltage. Increases Enthusiasm in all States by 2%.

  • Mutual Aid Network – cost: 4

    • Increase Issue Score by 20% in target and adjacent states.

  • Political Cooperative – cost: 1

    • Set a trap in a target state. When an Opponent arrives there, steal 3 Political Capital and return Political Cooperative to your hand.

  • Roaming Anarchist – cost: 3

    • At the start of the turn decrease enthusiasm by 5% for all other candidates in state occupied.

Political Action Card Balance Changes and Bug Fixes

• Max hand design changed – on full max hand size, you no longer draw a card.

  • Exception – if you steal cards from other players or cards return to your hand, you can exceed max hand size

• Fixed typos on cards and associated notifications

• Fixed Grassroots Donations card to target a state

• Fixed Insider Informant card to only steal 1 card instead of 4

• Card balancing

  • Lobbying Team

    • Increased Political Capital cost from 2 to 3

  • Lobbyist

    • Increased Political Capital cost from 1 to 2

  • Mentor

    • Increased political capital gain from 0.2 to 1.5

  • Parent Teacher Forum

    • Increased importance gain from 1 to 5

  • Party Hotshot

    • Increased weekly fund loss from 50k to 150k

  • Grassroots Protest

    • Increased per turn stamina loss from -1 to -3

  • Stump Speech Expert

    • Decreased turn effect from 7 to 4

Gameplay adjustments and Quality of Life improvements

• Political Opportunity – Nearby Natural Disaster

  • Decreased enthusiasm boost from 10% to 7%

• Issues

  • Fixed randomize issues option

  • General issue balance pass to improve accuracy of top state issues

  • Revised titles and descriptions of certain issues for clarity

• Primaries

  • Resolved caucus states now show state details on the week the caucus occurred

  • Fixed issue where Political Opportunities spawned in resolved states

• Fixed issue where you couldn’t drag the map view in political strategy mode

• Added automatic bobbling to candidates in debates mode when entering the level or responding to questions