Secret Hitler turns a table of friends into a room full of suspects. It is a social deduction party game for five to ten players where a hidden team of fascists tries to install their leader as Chancellor while the liberal majority fights to stop them. The catch is that nobody knows for certain who is on which side, and the fascists are actively lying about it. This guide covers everything you need to know to set up and play Secret Hitler, including the full rules, role distribution, strategy tips for both teams, and answers to the questions that come up most often at game night.
What Is Secret Hitler?
Secret Hitler was designed by Mike Boxleiter, Tommy Maranges, and Max Temkin and originally published in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. The game is set in 1930s Germany, where players take on the roles of politicians in the Reichstag trying to pass policies. Liberals outnumber the fascists, but the fascists know each other’s identities and can coordinate their lies. The game is released under a Creative Commons licence, meaning you can print and play a free version from the official site or buy the boxed edition with its distinctive art.
Player Count and Team Balance
The number of players determines how many fascists are hiding at the table:
- 5–6 players: 3 or 4 liberals, 1 regular fascist, and Hitler. Hitler knows who the fascist is.
- 7–8 players: 4 or 5 liberals, 2 regular fascists, and Hitler. Fascists know each other, but Hitler does not know who they are.
- 9–10 players: 5 or 6 liberals, 3 regular fascists, and Hitler. Again, Hitler is in the dark about the fascist team’s identities.
This scaling keeps the game balanced. With fewer players, Hitler gets more information to compensate for the smaller fascist team. With more players, the fascists have numbers but Hitler has to earn their trust without knowing who they are.
Game Setup
Shuffle the role cards and deal one identity card and one party membership card face down to each player. Everyone looks at their cards privately. Then the entire table closes their eyes and follows the standard reveal sequence.
The Identity Reveal
- All players close their eyes and extend a fist in front of them.
- Fascists (not Hitler) open their eyes to see each other and identify Hitler.
- In a 5–6 player game, Hitler also opens their eyes to see the fascist.
- Everyone closes their eyes again, then everyone opens them.
Shuffle the eleven fascist policy tiles and six liberal policy tiles together to form the policy deck. Place the liberal and fascist policy tracks on the table. Choose a starting President by any method — drawing the highest card, youngest player, or the person who most recently visited a government building all work.
How a Round Works
Each round of Secret Hitler has three phases: the Election, the Legislative Session, and, if applicable, an Executive Action.
The Election
The current President nominates another player to serve as Chancellor. There are two restrictions: the last elected Chancellor and the last elected President cannot be nominated again (in games with five or six players, only the last Chancellor is blocked). Once a Chancellor is nominated, every player — including the President and nominee — votes “Ja!” (yes) or “Nein!” (no). Votes are revealed simultaneously. If more than half of the votes are “Ja!”, the government is elected. If the vote fails, the presidency passes to the next player clockwise and the election tracker advances by one.
The Election Tracker
If three governments in a row fail to form, the country is thrown into chaos. The top card of the policy deck is revealed and enacted immediately — no one gets to choose. The election tracker then resets, and all term limits are cleared. This mechanic prevents the table from stalling indefinitely.
The Legislative Session
Once a government is formed, the President draws three policy tiles from the top of the deck, looks at them privately, discards one face down, and passes the remaining two to the Chancellor. The Chancellor looks at both, discards one face down, and enacts the other by placing it on the matching track. Neither player may reveal the policies they saw — though of course they can say whatever they want, honestly or not.
Because the deck contains eleven fascist tiles and only six liberal ones, even honest liberal governments will sometimes be forced to play a fascist policy. This built-in tension is what fuels every argument at the table.
Executive Actions
Certain spots on the fascist policy track unlock a Presidential Power that the current President must use immediately. The powers differ depending on the number of players:
- Investigate Loyalty: The President looks at another player’s party membership card (not their role card) in secret.
- Call Special Election: The President picks any player to be the next President, bypassing the normal rotation.
- Policy Peek: The President privately looks at the top three cards of the policy deck.
- Execution: The President formally executes a player, removing them from the game. If the executed player is Hitler, the liberals win immediately.
In smaller games (5–6 players), the first power does not appear until the third fascist policy. In larger games (7–10), powers begin appearing after the first or second fascist policy. The exact layout is printed on the fascist track board included in the game.
How to Win
There are two ways for each team to win:
Liberal Victory
- Enact five liberal policies, or
- Successfully execute Hitler.
Fascist Victory
- Enact six fascist policies, or
- Elect Hitler as Chancellor any time after the third fascist policy has been enacted.
This second fascist win condition is the core of the game’s tension. Once three fascist policies are on the board, every Chancellor vote becomes a life-or-death decision. Electing the wrong person can instantly end the game.
Strategy Tips for Liberals
Playing liberal is harder than it sounds. You have the numbers, but you have no secret information, and any fascist policy that gets played will generate suspicion against innocent players.
Slow Down and Talk
Fascists benefit from chaos and snap decisions. Liberals benefit from discussion. After every legislative session, take time to ask the President and Chancellor what they saw. Compare their stories. Press for details. Inconsistencies are your most reliable clue.
Track the Policy Deck
The deck has a known composition: eleven fascist and six liberal tiles. As policies are played and discarded, you can narrow down what should be left. If a President claims they drew three fascist tiles but the math says there should still be plenty of liberal tiles in the deck, that claim becomes much less credible. Card counting is a genuine skill in Secret Hitler and experienced players use it constantly.
Watch Voting Patterns
Voting is public information. Pay attention to who consistently votes “Ja!” on governments that end up passing fascist policies, and who votes “Nein!” on liberal-leaning tickets. Fascists often over-approve because they need their team in power, and their voting fingerprints accumulate over multiple rounds.
Strategy Tips for Fascists
As a fascist, your information advantage is enormous — you know who is on your team. The challenge is using that knowledge without exposing yourself.
Play Liberal Early
The strongest fascist play in the early game is to pass liberal policies when possible. This builds trust that you can cash in later when it matters. A fascist who is trusted enough to become Chancellor after three fascist policies are on the board can hand Hitler the Chancellorship or quietly push through the final fascist policies.
Create Liberal-on-Liberal Conflict
The best thing a fascist can do is make two liberals distrust each other. If you are President and draw two fascist tiles and one liberal, pass two fascist tiles to a liberal Chancellor. They are forced to play a fascist policy, and now the table does not know whether to blame you or the Chancellor. Both of you look suspicious, even though only one of you is lying.
Protect Hitler
Hitler winning the Chancellorship is often the fastest path to victory. Fascists should subtly vouch for Hitler without being too obvious about it. If Hitler is under suspicion, redirect attention to a liberal player who has already been involved in a messy legislative session. The goal is to keep Hitler alive and electable until the right moment.
Tips for Playing as Hitler
Hitler is the hardest role in the game. In larger groups you do not even know who your allies are, so you genuinely have to play like a liberal while hoping the fascists can read between the lines.
Blend In Completely
Do not try to push fascist policies early. Vote the way a cautious liberal would vote. Ask questions. Express suspicion of other players. Your only job in the early game is to survive and look trustworthy enough to be nominated for Chancellor later.
Avoid Overreacting
If a fascist teammate passes you two fascist tiles as Chancellor, do not panic. Accept the result, claim you had no choice (“both tiles were fascist”), and move on calmly. Overreacting or blaming your President too aggressively often draws more attention than the policy itself.
Common House Rules and Variants
Secret Hitler has a thriving community that has developed several popular house rules to keep the game fresh after dozens of sessions.
Blind Hitler at All Player Counts
Some groups play with the rule that Hitler never opens their eyes during setup, even at five or six players. This increases the difficulty for the fascist team and prevents the common issue in small games where Hitler and the fascist can coordinate too easily from the start.
No Table Talk During Legislation
In this variant, the President and Chancellor may not speak to each other while handling the policy tiles. This prevents subtle hints or eye contact from influencing decisions and forces both players to act entirely on their own judgment.
Veto Power from the Start
In the standard rules, the veto power only unlocks after the fifth fascist policy is enacted. Some groups enable it earlier, typically after the fourth, which gives liberals more tools to block fascist progress but also gives clever fascists another way to stall or create confusion.
Where to Play Secret Hitler
The physical game is widely available through Canadian board game shops and online retailers. You can also download the free print-and-play version from secrethitler.com under the Creative Commons licence. For online play, secrethitler.io offers a browser-based version that is popular with players who want to practise or cannot gather a full group in person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you play Secret Hitler with fewer than five players?
No. The game requires a minimum of five players to function. With fewer than five, the team balance breaks down and there are not enough players to create meaningful deduction or deception. If you only have three or four people, consider a smaller social deduction game like Coup or Love Letter until more players arrive.
What happens if Hitler is executed?
The game ends immediately with a liberal victory. Hitler reveals their role card, and no further play is needed. This is one of the two ways liberals can win, and it makes the execution power one of the most critical moments in any game.
Can the President and Chancellor discuss what cards they received?
They can say anything they like after the legislative session is over, but there is no requirement to tell the truth. A President might claim they drew three fascist tiles when they actually had a liberal option, and the Chancellor might back them up or contradict them. This ambiguity is the engine of the game. During the session itself, no communication about the tiles is allowed.
Is Secret Hitler appropriate for kids?
The publisher recommends the game for ages 13 and up. The gameplay itself is about voting, deduction, and bluffing, which older kids handle well. The historical theme can be a conversation starter about the era, but parents should use their judgment. Several fan-made rethemes with lighter settings — such as Secret Voldemort or Secret Palpatine — use identical rules with a different coat of paint if the theme is a concern.
How long does a game of Secret Hitler take?
Most games last between 20 and 45 minutes depending on the player count and how much discussion happens between rounds. Games with more players tend to run longer because elections take more time and there are more relationships to track. Experienced groups often play multiple rounds in an evening.
Final Thoughts
Secret Hitler works because it creates genuine tension from simple mechanics. The policy deck guarantees that even honest governments look suspicious, and the Hitler election rule means every Chancellor vote in the late game feels like defusing a bomb. Whether you are a liberal trying to read the table or a fascist weaving a web of lies, every round produces stories worth retelling. Grab a group of five or more, deal out the roles, and see how long it takes before someone you trust completely turns out to be lying through their teeth.