Kremlin (Fourth Edition)

About this board game

Kremlin (Fourth Edition) is a political strategy game for 2–6 players, with games lasting about 90 minutes. Players compete to control the Communist Party of the Soviet Union through secret influence, shifting alliances, bureaucratic maneuvering, and carefully timed betrayals.

Each game can last up to ten turns, ending when the Party Chief successfully waves three times at the May Day Parade—or when enough politicians are dead or in Siberia for the Party Chief to disband the Politburo and seize complete power. The struggle for influence is never fully visible: players secretly assign influence at the start and reveal it only when it is used.

The most dangerous decisions come during KGB trials and Defense Ministry spy investigations. Targets higher on the political ladder are harder to bring down, while investigations require a successful trial and a guilty vote. Control of a ministry can even change hands while an operation is underway.

• Manage aging and health: politicians grow older as they act, may become sick, and can die or enter the hospital.
• Reshape the hierarchy: the Party Chief and senior ministers move politicians between posts, while comrades in Siberia may be sponsored for return.
• Play intrigue cards: seize control of situations or disrupt another faction’s plans.

At the May Day Parade, a healthy Party Chief can wave throughout the day, while illness may force an early departure. The faction that earns three waves wins. Kremlin also includes three distinct settings: the original fictional-politician game, a more violent 1920s Revolution-inspired variant, and a modern USSR and Russia version featuring exile as an alternative to Siberia.