How to Play Simulacra
A strategic tabletop exercise in crisis management
🎯 Game Overview
You are a key stakeholder navigating a complex crisis scenario. Make strategic decisions across 5 rounds to manage the shared public metric while pursuing your secret objectives.
🎭 Dual Objectives
📢 Shared Objective
Maintain the Core Metric representing the collective outcome (e.g., public trust, system stability).
🎯 Hidden Objective
Each role has a secret goal that may conflict with the collective interest.
⚡ Action System
Action Points
Each round you have 3 action points. Actions cost 1-3 points based on their impact and complexity.
Strategic Choices
The AI Game Master generates 5 unique action options based on your role, the current crisis, and previous events. Choose wisely—your choices affect both scores!
Time Pressure
You have 5 minutes to decide. The timer can be paused, but choose before time runs out or you'll be forced to pass.
🎬 Scenario Types
Choose from pre-built scenarios or create your own custom crisis:
🗳️ Classic: Election Crisis
Navigate an AI-driven election interference scenario with roles like Election Commissioner, Tech CEO, Journalist, and more. Manage democratic legitimacy while pursuing hidden agendas.
🤖 AI Safety Scenario
Explore a pre-built crisis focused on AI alignment, safety governance, and existential risk management. Different roles and challenges than the election scenario.
✨ Custom Scenarios
Create your own crisis scenario! Describe any situation (climate emergency, pandemic response, corporate crisis, etc.) and the AI will generate appropriate roles, objectives, and narrative events. Unlimited possibilities!
👥 Example Roles
Here are the stakeholder roles from the Classic Election Crisis scenario. Each scenario has its own unique roles:
🏆 Winning & Losing
✅ Victory Conditions
- • Survive all 5 rounds with the core metric above 0
- • Maximize your hidden score to achieve personal objectives
- • Balance self-interest with collective survival
❌ Defeat Conditions
- • Core metric reaches 0 or below = Catastrophic failure!
- • All players lose if this happens, regardless of hidden scores
✨ Special Features
Ready to test your strategic skills in a crisis?