Inside the Box Board Games | £19 | Hand management 2-6 players | 20-60 minutes | Age: 14+ itbboardgames.com/games/statecraft
Almost everything about Statecraft makes you want to love it – except actually playing it. Designed as a card-battling simulation of a political race for Number 10/The White House/Leader of the Earth (delete as appropriate), the game neatly breaks down complex political concepts into four key scales that slide up and down as each of your cabinet members endorses or denounces specific policies. Support state-owned housing? Say hello to socialism and anarchism. Prefer affordable housing? Extra authoritarianism it is. It’s a fluid way of tracking your overall manifesto as you attempt to court floating voters, and introduces some amusing thematic decisions as you try to please as many supporters as possible, scrapping the minimum wage as you chase retirees or backing agricultural labour to the chagrin of the middle-class. The bright and clean visuals of the cards pair with snappy flavour text that leans into the satirical thick of it, so to speak.