Secret Hitler Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Election
  • Legislative Session
  • Executive Action
• Veto Power

Objective

Every player is secretly a member of the Liberal team or the Fascist team. Liberals win if five Liberal Policies are enacted, or if Hitler is assassinated. Fascists win if six Fascist Policies are enacted, or if Hitler is elected Chancellor after the third Fascist Policy has been enacted.

Whenever a Fascist Policy is enacted, the government becomes more powerful, granting the President a single-use power. Even Liberals may be tempted to enact a Fascist Policy to gain a power.

Setup

Place the Liberal and Fascist boards. Shuffle the 11 Fascist and 6 Liberal Policy tiles into one face-down Policy deck. Prepare an envelope per player containing a Secret Role card, a matching Party Membership card, and one Ja! and one Nein Ballot card. Liberal Role cards pack with Liberal Party cards; Fascist and Hitler Role cards pack with Fascist Party cards. Deal envelopes at random and have players examine their roles secretly.

Because Party Membership cards (used for investigation) show only team loyalty — not the Hitler role — Liberals who uncover Fascists must work out whether they've found an ordinary Fascist or Hitler.

Role reveal: In a 5–6 player game, Fascists and Hitler open their eyes and acknowledge each other. In a 7–10 player game, the Fascists (not Hitler) acknowledge each other, and Hitler gives a thumbs-up so the Fascists learn who Hitler is (while Hitler doesn't learn who the Fascists are). Randomly select the first Presidential Candidate.

Gameplay

Secret Hitler is played in rounds. Each round has an Election, a Legislative Session, and possibly an Executive Action.

Election

1. Pass the Presidential Candidacy: the President placard moves clockwise to the next player.
2. Nominate a Chancellor: the Presidential Candidate passes the Chancellor placard to any eligible player (the last elected President and Chancellor are term-limited and ineligible; with only five players left, only the last elected Chancellor is ineligible). Discussion is encouraged.
3. Vote: all players (including candidates) simultaneously reveal Ja!/Nein ballots. If a majority votes yes, the candidates become the new government (President and Chancellor). If there are already three or more Fascist Policies, ask the new Chancellor if they are Hitler — if so, the Fascists win. A tie or a majority "no" fails the vote: the placard moves on and the Election Tracker advances by one.

Election Tracker: if three governments in a row are rejected, the country falls into chaos — reveal and enact the top Policy immediately (ignoring any power), reset the tracker, and forget term limits (all players become eligible). The tracker also resets whenever any Policy is enacted.

Legislative Session

The President and Chancellor secretly enact a Policy. The President draws the top three tiles, secretly discards one face down, and passes the remaining two to the Chancellor, who secretly discards one and enacts the last by placing it face up on its track. Verbal and nonverbal communication between them is forbidden, and they may not use randomness to avoid choosing — they must intentionally, secretly select. Discarded tiles are never revealed; players rely on the (potentially lying) word of the President and Chancellor.

Lying: players may always lie about hidden knowledge. The only exception is game-ending Hitler scenarios: a player who is Hitler must say so if assassinated or if elected Chancellor after three Fascist Policies.

(Reshuffle the discard pile into the deck whenever fewer than three tiles remain.)

Executive Action

If the enacted Fascist Policy grants a Presidential Power (shown on the Fascist board for the current player count), the President must use it before the next round. Powers are single-use and don't stack.

Presidential Powers:

• Investigate Loyalty: look at another player's Party Membership card (not their Secret Role), then return it; you may lie about the result. No player may be investigated twice.
• Call Special Election: choose any player (even a term-limited one) to be the next Presidential Candidate; afterward the placard returns to the left of the President who called it.
• Policy Peek: secretly look at the top three Policy tiles, then return them in order.
• Execution: formally execute one player, who is removed from the game (no speaking, voting, or holding office). If they were Hitler, Liberals win immediately; otherwise the table doesn't learn the victim's team.

If a Liberal Policy (or a Fascist Policy granting no power) was enacted, begin a new round.

Veto Power

After five Fascist Policies are enacted, the Executive branch permanently gains the ability to discard all three Policies if both agree: after the President passes two tiles, the Chancellor may say "I wish to veto this agenda." If the President consents ("I agree to the veto"), both Policies are discarded, the placard passes, and the Election Tracker advances by one. If the President does not consent, the Chancellor must enact a Policy as normal.