How to play
Grounded in Secret Hitler's rulebook — cite-checked answers, not guesses.
Get a straight answer with the exact rulebook passage to back it up.
The easy-to-forget bits, straight from the rulebook.
Policy deck contents
The Policy deck consists of 11 Fascist Policy tiles and 6 Liberal Policy tiles.
Legislative Session steps
The President draws three Policy tiles, discards one, and passes two to the Chancellor, who discards one and enacts the remaining Policy.
Communication during session
Verbal and nonverbal communication between the President and Chancellor is forbidden during the Legislative Session, and they may not use random or unusual selection procedures for policies.
Discarded Policies
Discarded Policy tiles should never be revealed to the group.
Game end: Liberal win
The Liberal team wins if five Liberal Policies are enacted or if Hitler is assassinated.
Game end: Fascist win
The Fascist team wins if six Fascist Policies are enacted or if Hitler is elected Chancellor any time after the third Fascist Policy has been enacted.
Term limits
The last elected President and Chancellor are term-limited and ineligible to be nominated as Chancellor Candidate.
Policy deck reshuffle
If fewer than three tiles remain in the Policy deck at the end of a Legislative Session, or if the Election Tracker forces a Policy enactment and fewer than three tiles remain, shuffle them with the Discard pile to create a new Policy deck.
Veto Power trigger
The Veto Power comes into effect after five Fascist Policies have been enacted.
Lying about hidden info
Players can always lie about hidden knowledge, except when a player who is Hitler must say so if assassinated or if elected Chancellor after three Fascist Policies have been enacted.
To set up Secret Hitler: 1. **Set up the tracks and Policy deck:** * Select the Fascist track that matches the number of players and place it next to any Liberal track. * Shuffle the 11 Fascist Policy tiles and 6 Liberal Policy tiles (for a total of 17 Policy tiles) into a single Policy deck. * Place this deck face down on the Draw pile card. 2. **Prepare player envelopes:** * Each player needs an envelope. * Each envelope should contain one Secret Role card, one corresponding Party Membership card, one Ja! Ballot card, and one Nein Ballot card. * Liberal Secret Role cards must be paired with Liberal Party Membership cards. * Fascist and Hitler Secret Role cards must be paired with Fascist Party Membership cards. 3. **Distribute roles:** * Use the provided table to determine the correct number of Liberal, Fascist, and Hitler roles based on the player count. * For example, in a 5-player game, there are 3 Liberals and 1 Fascist plus Hitler (1+H). * Ensure the correct number of ordinary Fascists are included in addition to Hitler. 4. **Assign roles randomly:** * Once all envelopes are filled, shuffle them to keep each player's role secret. * Each player then receives one envelope selected at random.
Secret Hitler is played in rounds, and each round involves specific actions depending on the phase and your role: * **Election**: A government is formed. A President nominates an eligible player as a Chancellor Candidate. The passages do not specify what other players do during an Election (e.g., voting). * **Legislative Session**: * The President draws the top three Policy tiles from the deck, looks at them in secret, and discards one face down. The President then hands the remaining two tiles to the Chancellor. * The Chancellor looks at these two tiles in secret, discards one face down, and enacts the remaining Policy by placing it face up. * During this session, verbal and nonverbal communication between the President and Chancellor is forbidden, and they must not try to avoid secretly and intentionally selecting a Policy. Discarded policies are not revealed. * **Executive Action**: If a newly-enacted Fascist Policy grants a Presidential Power, the President must use it before the next round. The President can discuss the issue with other players but ultimately decides how and when to use the power. These powers are used only once. Possible Presidential Powers include: * **Investigate Loyalty**: The President chooses a player, checks their Party Membership card in secret, and returns it. The President can share or lie about the results. * **Call Special Election**: The President chooses any other player to be the next Presidential Candidate. * **Policy Peek**: The President secretly looks at the top three tiles of the Policy deck and returns them without changing their order. * **Execution**: The President executes one player. If that player is Hitler, Liberals win. Executed players are removed from the game and cannot speak, vote, or run for office.
Rules summaries are AI-generated from the official rulebook and may contain mistakes — check the manual for anything critical.
Players win Secret Hitler based on their team's objectives: * **Liberal Team Wins**: * If five Liberal Policies are enacted. * If Hitler is assassinated. * **Fascist Team Wins**: * If six Fascist Policies are enacted. * If Hitler is elected Chancellor any time after the third Fascist Policy has been enacted.
Secret Hitler does not use a traditional scoring system with points. Instead, teams win by meeting specific victory conditions: * **Liberal Team Wins:** * Five Liberal Policies are enacted. * Hitler is assassinated. * **Fascist Team Wins:** * Six Fascist Policies are enacted. * Hitler is elected Chancellor any time after the third Fascist Policy has been enacted.
The game of Secret Hitler ends when either the Liberal team or the Fascist team meets one of their victory conditions. **The Liberal team wins if either:** * Five Liberal Policies are enacted. * Hitler is assassinated. **The Fascist team wins if either:** * Six Fascist Policies are enacted. * Hitler is elected Chancellor any time after the third Fascist Policy has been enacted.