Exploding kittens

1. Whistleblower:

• Successfully leak critical information that leads to at least one major reform or widespread public backlash. Prevent mass civilian surveillance.

2. Policymaker:

• Maintain a balance of stability and reform, achieving at least two laws or resolving two crises favorably.

3. Surveillance Organization:

• Prevent the Whistleblower from causing significant reforms and maintain operational secrecy until the end.

Key components

• Draft System: Players pick their professions in turns, starting with a random or lowest-ranked player.

• Crisis phases

• Data leaks

Whistleblower Card

• Your role is to gather information, and ensure major issues are exposed and lead to reform. You do this by revealing player actions or identities through leaks. You can also spread false leaks, but make sure to maintain public trust.

Policymaker Card

• Your role is to establish the laws regulations, and practices before the start of the game, and renforcing these during the course of the game.

Surveilance Card

• Your role is to collect information , engage in counterintelligence, advice policymakers for strategic decisions, prevent leaks and ensure their operations remain effective and covert.

Cards

• Professions (Academic (Whistleblower, Policymaker), Judge (Policymaker, Surveillance organisation), Hacker (Whistleblower, Surveillance organisation), Data Scientist (Whistleblower, Surveillance organisation), Diplomat (Policymaker, Surveillance organisation))

Crisis Cards

Public Inquiry

• Effect: Policymakers must respond to public demand for transparency. They have to disclose a part of their hidden agenda, but they can choose which part.

Mass Protest

• Effect on Policymakers: Must pass a reform within two turns to quell unrest or lose public trust.

• Effect on Whistleblowers: Gain an extra action if the protest aligns with their leak.

• Effect on Surveillance Organisations: Lose one covert operation or face exposure.

Election Year (removed if only 1 policymaker)

• Bonus: mini game to decide if the election can be blocked 

• Effect on Policymakers: Lose all current influence to aligned roles. New "elected" players gain temporary lawmaking power. They are elected based on job compatibility.

• Effect on Whistleblowers: Increased risk of exposure but higher impact for successful leaks.

• Effect on Surveillance Organisations: Must adapt to changing laws.

Technological advancements:

• Effect: grants Surveillance Organisations a temporary advantage (e.g., two covert operations per turn).

• Policymakers must decide whether to regulate the technology in two turns.

• Whistleblowers can use a protection card to sway policymakers towards regulating it.

Terrorist attack:

• Effect: A coordinated terrorist attack threatens national security, forces a rapid response to safeguard stability.

Policymaker Cards:

These cards are designed for players in the Policymaker role and focus on lawmaking, transparency, and public trust.

1. Hidden Agenda

• Effect: The policymaker has a dual role of being a decision-maker and hiding certain aspects of their agenda. One part of the agenda is visible, while the other is secret.

2. Action in Crisis

• Effect: The policymaker can gain public trust by making the right decisions during a crisis or by passing a reform.

3. Reform Cards

• Effect: These cards represent potential reforms that the policymaker can either pass or block. These reforms may address surveillance practices, public transparency, or the protection of whistleblowers.

4. Policy Evaluation

• Effect: The policymaker evaluates the current status of surveillance policies, assessing whether surveillance organizations align with new reforms or need adjustments.

Whistleblower Cards:

These cards are specifically for the Whistleblower role and are centered around leaking information, protecting themselves, and manipulating public perception.

1. Whistleblower Freeze

• Effect: Temporarily prevents a Whistleblower from leaking any information or taking actions for one turn.

2. Whistleblower Protection

• Effect: Provides protection to a Whistleblower, making them immune to exposure for one turn.

3. Foreign Aid for Whistleblowers

• Effect: Grants the Whistleblower the ability to expose a piece of critical information from another player's hand (e.g., covert operations or policymaker hidden agendas).

4. Covert Card Uncovering (Leak Card)

• Effect: Allows the Whistleblower to uncover a covert card from another player (such as surveillance operations or policymaker hidden agendas).

5. Public Demand Card

• Effect: Increases pressure on policymakers to disclose information or take action within a set number of turns. Could grant an extra action for the Whistleblower if leveraged correctly.

Surveillance Organization Cards:

These cards are for Surveillance Organizations and focus on covert operations, deception, and influence.

1. Strategic Alliance

• Effect: Partners with a policymaker to gain temporary immunity from certain laws or policies.

2. Covert Operation

• Effect: Conduct a covert action, such as gathering intelligence, influencing policymaking, or monitoring targets. This action is hidden and secret.

3. Decoy Covert Operation

• Effect: This is a fake operation designed to mislead other players. If a Whistleblower or policymaker tries to expose it, it reveals nothing.

4. Leak Penalty Card

• Effect: Penalizes a Whistleblower if they expose a covert operation. The penalty could result in a loss of public trust or a temporary freeze on the Whistleblower’s actions.

5. Covert Freeze

• Effect: Temporarily halts a covert operation, preventing surveillance organizations from gathering intelligence or influencing policymaking for one turn.

6. Policy Proposition to Expand Capacity

• Effect: Proposes a policy change to increase surveillance capacity, such as expanding data collection tools or increasing the scope of operations.

7. Reform Delay

• Effect: Allows the surveillance organization to delay a reform proposed by the policymaker for one turn.

Whistleblowers

• Whistleblower freeze

• Whistleblower protection

• Foreign Aid for whistleblowers

• Covert card uncovering (leak card)

• Public demand card

Policymakers

• Hidden agenda, (maybe the framework they choose? One part shows the rules, other part is secret)

• Action in crisis, Gain of public trust (maybe get a public trust card?)

• Reform cards

• Policy evaluation

Surveillance organisations

• Strategic Alliance

• Effect: Partner with a Policymaker to gain temporary immunity from specific laws or policies.

• Covert Operation

• Decoy covert operarion

• Leak penalty card

• Covert freeze

• Policy proposition to expand capacity

• Reform delay

Public Trust Meter:

with every action of the policymakers and surveillance organisations, their public trust meter goes up or down, if it reaches the limit, the policymakers and surveillance organisations lose.

The lower it gets, the more impactful the whistleblowers’ claims get.

Establishing laws, regulations and practices before the game starts, reviews of surveillance practices, crisis driven reforms, whistleblower protections, reaction on lawsuits, Maintain stability and prevent reputational damage while adapting to crises.

How to raise public trust:

• Policymakers disclose recent operations

• Implement reform aligned with public demands