Field manual
How to Play
Five picks, one score. This is everything you need before your first draft — and everything you need to understand after your tenth.
Rerolling — respin rules: when you can reroll
In Classic Draft, before you press "View Candidates," you can respin the category, the country, or both. Respins are free and unlimited. Once you view the six candidates for a round, that combination is locked.
Respins are off in Daily Challenge. The five rounds are fixed for everyone playing that day, so you work with whatever category and country the game gives you.
A respin rerolls only the part you choose. If the category is good but the country looks thin, reroll just the country. If the pairing might be invalid, rerolling the country is usually safer because most categories have candidates in more countries than the reverse.
Empty pools — invalid combinations and what they mean
Not every category exists in every country. Some pairings produce zero candidates (e.g. Atheists of Vatican City, Military Commanders of Monaco). In Classic mode, respin before viewing candidates if you suspect a pairing is empty. In Daily mode, the game skips invalid combinations when building the five rounds, so you always see six real candidates. When a valid pairing has fewer than six real candidates, the game fills the remaining slots with generated placeholder names.
The math — how the game calculates your score
- 01Every cabinet starts at 30 points.
- 02Role fit adds 0–100: each category has a weight per role; fit = (weight − min) / (max − min).
- 03Combo bonuses: +11 for a top-tier category match, +8 for second tier.
- 04Alliance bonus: +4 with two countries, +8 with three or more.
- 05No-authority penalty: ×0.65 if the cabinet has zero Politicians, Dictators, or Military Commanders.
- 06Joke pick penalties: Poets/Porn Stars in General −14, in Treasurer −10.
- 07Battlefield variance: +0–20 random each simulation.
- 08Final score clamped to 0–195.
Game modes — classic vs daily
Unlimited intel
Classic Draft
Free play. Unlimited runs, respin any round before viewing candidates. Counts toward "Classic Today" and "All Time" leaderboards.
Play ClassicOne puzzle for everyone
Today's Daily
Everyone gets the same five rounds and the same thirty candidates. No respins. Only your best score is saved for the day. Resets at 00:00 UTC. Counts toward the "Daily Challenge" leaderboard and a streak counter.
Play Today's DailySeating order — role priority: which seat to fill first
The General and Treasurer have the harshest penalties for bad fits, so fill them first when a strong candidate appears. The President has the highest single bonus ceiling but no penalty, so you can fill it later without risk. The Propaganda Minister bonus is smaller and the Vice President has no tiered bonus at all. Both work as fallback seats for candidates who do not fit anywhere else.
Grab a Military Commander or Dictator early and lock them into General before the round forces you to use them elsewhere. A Billionaire should go to Treasurer, not Vice President, even if the VP seat is empty and tempting.
Weight table — category weight highlights
Each category has a weight from 6 to 58 for every role. A few standouts: Politicians score 58 as President but only 20 as General. Military Commanders score 56 as General but only 32 as Propaganda Minister. Pop Stars score 46 as Propaganda Minister but just 24 as Treasurer. Poets score 54 as Propaganda Minister, which surprises new players.
Full tables for all five roles live on the Cabinet Roles page.
Candidate pools — country pool sizes and what to expect
Pool sizes vary widely. The USA, United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China have full rosters across nearly all categories. Small nations like Vatican City, Monaco, and Iceland have very few categories filled; they produce more generated placeholder names.
After the game — submitting your score to the leaderboard
After the simulation, type a commander name and press "Submit." The leaderboard shows your name, and your browser saves it for future runs. Names cap at 30 characters.
The leaderboard has three views: "Daily Challenge," "Classic Today," and "All Time." Within each view, only your best score per commander is kept, so playing again can only improve your standing. Tied scores share the same rank; the earlier submission shows first.