Habemus Papam

About this board game

Habemus Papam is a 60-minute game for 3–6 players, released in 2025, about influencing the election of the next Pope during a tense Conclave.

Each player leads a Cardinal faction representing distinct interests within the Catholic Church. Your public profile favors candidates according to traits such as their stance on the Church, age, personality, and origin, while a hidden agenda may pull your faction in a different direction.

Influence is the central resource. It can be spent to play powerful cards and sway the vote, but it also determines your points, making every decision a difficult balance between immediate impact and final scoring. Advancing your interests through widely supported candidates allows you to gain more influence in later rounds.

• Negotiate with rival factions and build temporary alliances.
• Use deduction to uncover the hidden motives of other players.
• Eliminate threats and outmaneuver opponents as the election develops.
• Choose carefully when to spend influence and when to preserve it for scoring.

At the end of each of the first four rounds, the Conclave may announce Fumata Blanca, crowning a Pope and triggering final scoring, or Fumata Negra, sending the factions into another round of intrigue.

If no Pope is elected after five rounds, Habemus Papam ends with or without a Pontiff, and the final score is tallied. With public interests, secret objectives, negotiation, and shifting support all competing for attention, every faction must decide how openly to pursue its goals.