Histogame does not often publish new titles, but when they do, those games pretty quickly are able to build-up a group of devoted fans. Look at Friedrich, Maria or Napoleon’s Triumph. This was similar with another of their interesting positions, namely Wir sind das Volk!

Honestly, I had this game on my radar for quite some time; in the end, it was published a decade ago! Still, there was no occasion nor opportunity to play it with anybody. Fortunately, during my summer vacations I was spending one week near where my good boardgames buddy, Clio, lives. That was a perfect occasion to bring some great games to the table and fill the gaps – like with Wir sind das Volk! for me.

What is interesting, during our live meeting I liked the game so much that since then we played it twice online, using great, although limited in titles, BoardGameCore. In this article I would like to share my first impressions with this position and of course also report our sessions. Enjoy!

About the Game

Wir sind das Volk! (“We are the people!” – the main slogan of the East German demonstrators in 1989) recreates the history of the divided Germany, from the Berlin Airlift to the fall of the Berlin Wall. It guides us through the four decades (1949-1989) of the bitter competition between the Eastern and Western German countries.

This is a card-driven game, with 84 of such directing your options – play your or neutral event, or play for ops. Be careful though of opponent events! What you will do? First and foremost, build up your economy and then increase the living standards of your people. Definitely do not fall behind, as otherwise you will face widespread unrest – and if you are ahead, you can incite it behind the border! Then, win the contest for international prestige – it will help you in critical phases of the game. Also, do not allow socialism to grow too strong in the East as you will otherwise lose automatically as West. Sounds easy? No way – a good planning will be needed in order for you to execute your plans!

Face to Face session

Time to jump to our first session of Wir sind das Volk! We played in July, and it was surprisingly quick to learn the game and familiarize with the rules. The box is pretty small for such amount of content, the components nice and elegant and as I was going to learn – with multiple strategies and paths to victory for both sides! Let us jump to short picture-rich report (sorry Clio, no arrows this time 🙂 )

The game in action. In my first attempt with this title I was leading East Germany (German Democratic Republic) while Clio was in charge of West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany). As I learned later, I was playing surprisingly aggressively with my socialists, pushing the economy and living standard so quickly so high that capitalists could not catch up!
All of this was driven by beautiful and thematic cards; look above – the red color means this is Eastern event, the Yellow – Western, and if there are both of those colors present – neutral one. I like the mechanics for playing the latter ones – you can ignore one icon and then you execute the event!
My socialistic republic was developing, people were happy, I did not have to build the Berlin wall as almost nobody was escaping. Hm, why if everything was going so well I had a feeling of immediate collapse! Ach, I know! By pursuing the optimal economical-social conditions I completely forgot about my socialistic roots and that betrayal of Marx & Engels thesis costed me a game. I could not place a Socialists when I was obliged too as there were none in East Germany anymore!

Online Sessions

After the come back to home, Clio showed me a wonderful page with four interesting implementations of the boardgames – BoardGameCore. I was oblivious to its existence in the past and quickly familiarized with it. The way Wir sind das Volk! is implemented here is very ergonomic and functional with clear log to the right and mp to the left. The color palette and graphics are a in the boxed version.

We agreed that I will try to play once again as East – as I already knew how to direct that faction and which pitfalls to avoid. And indeed, this time my strategy was different – more balanced, more of survival, trying not to fall behind too much in prestige, socialists, Western currency, living standards or too many protests. It was not easy as my industry was all the time ravaged by some crises but I survived till the end!
In the second online game the time has come to play as all might West. Wow, what a comfort it was! I unfortunately had problems with some pesky protesters, which were preventing building the industry and increasing living standards! Thus I turned to economical competition with the East – it was going well, but not well enough to force their collapse. A victory for Clio!

First Impressions

I believe that having played three times, I have pretty decent material to share my impressions and what I think about this game, whee it shines and what was concerning me. Let us see:

  • The game is very thematic. I understand that for us, Eastern Europeans, who know the history of the region, its events, main figures and critical moments it is much easier to appreciate that fact than for the others, but I believe my statement holds in general. Map, cards, events, dimensions of interests for both sides – this is exactly what was on mind of people living in Germany between 1949 and 1989.
  • While the game is not too long to play – I would say once you know the rules, it is about 1.5 hour – it creates each time completely different situations, dangers and opportunities. So yes, the replayability factor is high!
  • I like the way components were produced. They are elegant, sometimes minimalistic, very functional and convey all the info that is needed for the play.
  • What is very nicely incorporated and presented in this title is the dynamics of the four decades of this struggle. With the rise and even advantage of the East in the beginning, thorough the relative stalemate, to the steady but constantly growing advantage of the West.
  • I also appreciate the small things; having played so many various historical and political titles, with so many type of mechanics, it is nice to see fresh ideas. Like the way you play the neutral events (by ignoring one icon but mandatory implementation of the rest) or pivotal events which can be played by East (giving instant enormous boost but a vest nasty long-term consequences).
  • You may ask what drawbacks I see? Well, it seems that winning as East is much more easy than the West. With three plays, I can see this pattern but cannot confirm this.

Summary

This is a very nice and interesting implementation of Card-Driven, history-focused boardgame. It has its own flavor, solutions and mechanics. It follows some of the great ideas of Twilight Struggle but also follows its own paths. It is multidimensional, quick, interesting and replayable. Highly recommended!