v.83 Playtest Changelog - The Political Machine 2024

Posted on Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Hello all,
Today we have a brand new update for the playtest which features 2 new decks, balance updates, and some quality of life fixes based on feedback:

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