How to Play
Sovereignty teaches through consequences, not terminology. Here’s how a game works.
Each player starts with 5 coins and 3 reputation (clamped between 0 and 10). The board has 16 spaces arranged in a loop. Roll a die, move forward, and land on spaces that give you choices: trade, help someone, take a risk, or draw a card.
28 Event cards read like moments — situations that affect all players or force individual choices. The deck includes 20 core events and 8 market-shift events that trigger in Town Hall games.
12 Deal cards force conversation — offers, trades, and agreements between players. Each deal has a deadline and a reward for completion, plus a reputation penalty for failure.
10 Voucher cards are IOUs you issue to another player. You need at least 2 reputation to issue a voucher. If you default, you lose reputation. Trusted issuers (reputation 5 or higher) pay a bonus when redeeming.
The promise rule
Section titled “The promise rule”Once per round, say “I promise…” out loud and commit to something specific. The table decides if you kept it:
- Keep your promise: +1 reputation
- Break your promise: -2 reputation
The apology
Section titled “The apology”Once per game, if you broke a promise, you can publicly apologize. Pay 1 coin to the person you wronged, and regain +1 reputation.
Pick a goal at the start — secret or public:
| Goal | Win condition |
|---|---|
| Prosperity | Reach 20 coins |
| Beloved | Reach 10 reputation |
| Builder | Complete 4 upgrades |
Winning
Section titled “Winning”A player wins immediately by achieving their chosen goal (20 coins for Prosperity, 10 reputation for Beloved, 4 upgrades for Builder). If nobody achieves their goal after 15 rounds, the highest combined score wins. The tiebreak formula weighs coins, reputation, and upgrades: (coins / 2) + reputation + (upgrades * 3).
The board
Section titled “The board”The board has 16 spaces arranged in a loop. Some space types appear more than once (Rumor Mill is at positions 3 and 9, Trade Dock at 4 and 12). When you pass through or land on Campfire (position 0), you gain 1 coin.
| Space | Effect |
|---|---|
| Campfire (0) | Safe. +1 coin when you pass through or land on it |
| Workshop (1) | Pay 2 coins for +1 upgrade |
| Market (2) | Buy or sell 1 resource at market price |
| Rumor Mill (3, 9) | Draw an Event card |
| Trade Dock (4, 12) | Propose a trade with any player |
| Festival (5) | Donate 1 coin for +1 reputation |
| Trouble (6) | Lose 1 coin or 1 reputation |
| Help Desk (7) | Give another player 1 coin; both gain +1 reputation |
| Mint (8) | Gain 2 coins from the bank |
| Builder (10) | Pay 3 coins for +1 upgrade (requires reputation 3 or higher) |
| Faucet (11) | Gain 1 coin from the bank |
| Taxman (13) | Pay 1 coin, or lose 1 reputation if broke |
| Commons (14) | Vote: if majority agrees, everyone gains 1 coin |
| Crossroads (15) | Draw a Deal card. Accept or pass |
The Toast
Section titled “The Toast”Once per game, anyone at the table can raise a toast to a player. Name something they did right. The toasted player gains +1 reputation. Each player can only be toasted once.
sov toast AliceRecipes
Section titled “Recipes”Recipes set the mood for a session by filtering the card deck:
sov new --recipe cozy -p Alice -p BobAvailable recipes: cozy, spicy, market, promise.