Gnomic Parliament
- Board's Eye View
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
We always enjoy hidden-role voting games like Secret Hitler (Goat Wolf & Cabbage) and Feed the Kraken (Funtails/Outset Media). With Gnomic Parliament, from Fobs Games, Channing Jones has designed a voting game which follows a different path to the popular games set in 1930s Germany or on the High Seas.
In Gnomic Parlament, the 4-8 players are members of the Parliament of Gnomes. In the basic game, a number of laws will be displayed. These are all different and each has its own specific effect, likely to benefit some players more than others. Like those in Lancaster: Henry V (Queen Games), the laws in Gnomic Parliament can each alter the rules of the game. One player takes the role of President. They choose one of the laws to propose. Players debate the law and then they vote by placing their voting markers face-down to either pass or reject that law. Before the votes are revealed, lobby cubes can be added to enhance the strength of players' votes, both openly and, finally, by revealing cubes hidden in a players' hand.
There may be laws that benefit players in the minority but in most cases you'll get more honor (victory points) for being in the majority. If the law is passed its effects are applied. The President allocates any lobby cubes on the card among players who voted 'yes' and the President can choose to either remain in post or can voluntarily pass on the Presidency to the player to their left. When a President stands down voluntarily, they collect two lobby cubes. The President is forced to resign and pass the Presidency on, and without compensation, if a law they propose is rejected.
That, in short, is the basic game but you can step it up by incorporating the Advanced rules that add in Decrees and Agendas. These introduce a hidden role aspect to the game and so add an element of social deduction. Each player is dealt a Decree card and an Agenda card. These are kept initially face down. When you are President you can choose to put your Decree to Parliament in place of the bills in the display. A player with a Decree card can also seek to oust a President by moving a vote of no confidence in them.
Agendas introduce four political parties. These relate to symbols on the law cards, and you'll score end-game points if there have been more laws passed with your party affiliation.
The theme might sound dry but you'll enjoy arguing over each of the laws. You can't actually bribe each other with honor points or lobby cubes but you can try to persuade other players that they should support laws that benefit others more than themselves. It's almost always best to find yourself in the majority so you'll want to make deductions about how others are going to be voting, and how much weight they are giving to their votes through added lobby cubes. And with the Advanced rules, you'll also be following other players' voting records to deduce their party allegiances and likely Agendas.
Shown in our Board's Eye View 360 is the German edition of Gnomic Parliament (Gnomenparlament) taken at Spiel Essen 2025 but Fobs Games have also published the game in English.
