Wir sind das Volk!: Combined Edition

About this board game

Wir sind das Volk!: Combined Edition is a 2–4-player Cold War strategy game with an approximately 200-minute playing time, released in 2023. It combines the award-winning Wir sind das Volk! with the four-player expansion 2+2.

In the base game, players take the roles of East Germany and West Germany after the country’s division in 1949. Each side seeks to rebuild its economy, raise living standards, and demonstrate the strength of its political system. Carefully managing action cards is central to turning plans into progress.

History can disrupt even the best strategy. Events such as the 1973 Oil Crisis and the Monday demonstrations shape the contest, while mass protests remain a constant threat that may determine the outcome.

The 2+2 expansion adds the USA and the Soviet Union, creating two partnerships with an important twist: there can be only one winner. Players must weigh their side’s shared interests against their own goals, manipulating a partner’s choices or even sabotaging their plans while continuing to develop their Germany.

The expanded game also brings new strategic concerns beyond the divided nation. The superpowers compete for global dominance through the arms race and space race, while every player must remember the importance of world peace.

• Two gameboards
• 87 wooden pieces
• 148 playing cards
• Three sheets of die-cut markers
• Two sets of rules

With its intertwined partnerships, changing events, economic development, and ever-present risk of protest or conflict, Wir sind das Volk!: Combined Edition offers two related but distinct ways to experience the rivalry of East and West Germany.