Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Secret Hitler, a Game That Simulates Fascism’s Rise, Becomes a Hit
The New York Times ^ | September 5, 2017 | Jonah Engel Bromwich

Posted on 09/06/2017 2:12:36 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

I was house-sitting for my brother this summer when I saw something suspicious: a box in his living room emblazoned with the words “Secret Hitler.”

On his return, I confronted him. “What in God’s name is that?” I asked, pointing at the box.

“It’s a board game,” he said, rolling his eyes.

More specifically, Secret Hitler is a social deduction game, one that has caught on quickly since it began to ship to players last summer. It’s like Mafia, or Werewolf, or other games in which players try to identify a traitor in their midst.

In this version, anywhere between five and 10 players are divided into two uneven teams: a larger team of liberals and a smaller team of fascists. (There are no antifa.) One player is chosen as Secret Hitler. The fascists, aware of their leader’s identity, work to install him by fooling the liberals, who are kept in the dark.

The makers of the game have raised close to $1.5 million since announcing it on Kickstarter in November 2015. It briefly become the top-selling item in the toy and game category on Amazon when it launched, and it recently sold out its second print run. (The company does not publish sales data, but the money they have raised suggests that they have sold tens of thousands of copies.)

The game was conceived in early 2015 and boosted by its association with Max Temkin, 30, who is one of the creators of the provocative party game Cards Against Humanity. But Secret Hitler benefited from another, unforeseen trend: a significant surge in interest in fascism around the 2016 election, which also saw brisk sales of dystopian literary classics and a rejuvenated discussion of the movement that brought leaders like Hitler and Mussolini to power....

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Hobbies; Politics
KEYWORDS: 2015; cardsagainsthumanity; entertainment; fascism; game; games; hitler; liberals; maxtemkin; secrethitler
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last

1 posted on 09/06/2017 2:12:36 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

These are the only two sides?

These guys are allies.

All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.
—Benito Mussolini

++++

“a larger team of liberals and a smaller team of fascists.”


2 posted on 09/06/2017 2:23:22 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

After waiting for more than a year and a half after investing on Kickstarter, I finally got word my Kingdom: Death Monster game will arrive in October. Thing cost $250. Got it as a gift.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poots/kingdom-death-monster-15/posts/1943537


3 posted on 09/06/2017 2:25:45 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (Happy Nobama!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Exactly how liberals prefer to view the world: with themselves as the popular majority while everyone else is a fascist. In this version of reality, limited government, the free market, and Christian values are oppressive social constructs.


4 posted on 09/06/2017 2:28:23 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper
Right now I am in the market for a shih tzu. My daughter turns eight next week (TY, TY,TY) and I promised she can have one.
5 posted on 09/06/2017 2:31:05 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (Happy Nobama!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Isn’t this game like the Secret-McCain, Secret-Romney, Secret-Obama, or Secret-Bush game?

I would think the Secret-Hillary game would move along with the idea that you have to: (1) install a server in your bathroom, (2) rub your nose for the question from the moderator, (3) keep getting monopoly-money put into your fake foundation, (4) pretend to have pneumonia, (5) allow some guy named Bernie to outwit you but never admit it, and (6) hype up something about Russians hacking but never provide evidence of such.


6 posted on 09/06/2017 2:35:11 AM PDT by pepsionice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper
20 Shih Tzu Facts You May Not Know
7 posted on 09/06/2017 2:35:42 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (Happy Nobama!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sounds exactly like the lead-up to the 2008 election!


8 posted on 09/06/2017 2:38:12 AM PDT by jughandle (Big words anger me, keep talking.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2banana

Need a new game. The Secret Hashem! He always wins, since he made all of the rules. The multiple divisions of the ungodly are just that. Division from truth!

“These are the only two sides?” There is only one, if you want to win! But yes, there are only two sides. One side will make itself look like 5 different choices.


9 posted on 09/06/2017 2:48:22 AM PDT by foundedonpurpose (Prayers for Gods People! Salvation & Restoration!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

A neighbor kid used to have two shih tzus that played soccer with us instead of fetch.
The bigger one was a great goalie while the little one was good at getting the ball downfield past all the kids and into a goal.


10 posted on 09/06/2017 2:57:14 AM PDT by piasa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: 2banana
“a larger team of liberals and a smaller team of fascists.”

So these are the bad guys, who plays the good guys ?

11 posted on 09/06/2017 3:01:54 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Je Suis Pepe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

How about a game called “Secret Pol Pot” — players strive to figure out who among a group of alleged “liberals” would be most likely to try to massacre everyone for ideological incorrectness.


12 posted on 09/06/2017 3:34:48 AM PDT by Enchante
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

They’ve been playing a variant of this game at the NYT for decades now.


13 posted on 09/06/2017 3:48:47 AM PDT by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“simulates fascism’s rise”

not really

The Fascists rally around a charismatic leader. Not so secret.


14 posted on 09/06/2017 3:55:05 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this is just an old parlor game that has been rewritten and relaunched.


15 posted on 09/06/2017 3:57:24 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: rbg81

Maybe the New York should issue their version of “Secret Stalin”, since they helped Stalin hide his genocide of starving millions.


16 posted on 09/06/2017 3:57:30 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlour_game

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(party_game)


17 posted on 09/06/2017 3:59:20 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
We know how this ends...


18 posted on 09/06/2017 4:16:32 AM PDT by GreenLanternCorps (Hi! I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts! (TM) Ask about franchise opportunities in your area.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
And of COURSE the NYT ties it all to Trump:

Secret Hitler’s creators are aware that some consumers will not find any humor in the game’s title, either because Nazis are not a laughing matter or because of fears about the growing visibility of white supremacists and other extremists since the election of President Trump.

The gamemakers have not been shy about linking the game to the president. At the website, they advise those who “don’t think there’s anything funny or cool about fascism” to address complaints to the White House. They have also sent copies of the game to senators and released a Trump administration expansion pack, with cards for some members of the administration. It was quickly outpaced by news events, given that there are cards for Stephen K. Bannon and Sean Spicer, who left the White House over the summer.

None of the game’s creators, who are based in Chicago, voted for Mr. Trump. Mr. Temkin, who has worked on Democratic campaigns, said he did not think he knew anyone who did — and his victory took the gamemakers by surprise. He said they even felt a twinge of regret about their timing.

“Oh, it’s too bad that when this game comes out, Donald Trump won’t be relevant to American politics anymore because it would be great marketing for us,” Mr. Temkin remembered thinking.

19 posted on 09/06/2017 4:27:27 AM PDT by montag813 (ue)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I was house-sitting for my brother this summer when I saw something suspicious: a box in his living room emblazoned with the words “Secret Hitler.”

On his return, I confronted him. “What in God’s name is that?” I asked, pointing at the box.

“It’s a board game,” he said, rolling his eyes.


Fake dialog. But typical of Libs who have no issue constructing fake dialogs to push a storyline over facts.


20 posted on 09/06/2017 4:40:14 AM PDT by Flick Lives (#CNNblackmail)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson