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ENG: “Class Struggle’’ is a board game originally designed by Professor Bertell Ollman and published in USA 1978. It reflects the real struggle between the classes in our society. 

In the game, players take on roles of different classes to compete with each other trying to win the Revolution. To do this, players advance around the board, making and breaking alliances, and picking up strengths and weaknesses that determine the outcome of class confrontations, which occur along the way.

45 years later, the class struggle is still going on and is not planning to slow down. From the power accumulation of multinational corporations and a global ecological crisis to the rise of popularity of workers’ unions, imperialist wars, and a renewed threat of nuclear apocalypse – all the themes of the game are as topical in 2023 as they were in 1978 (or even more so).

Acknowledgments:

  • Activists of the Ukrainian public organization "Social Movement" and the student union "Direct Action" - for their support during the work on the project; 
  • Users of the subreddit r/socialism and the Facebook community "Class Struggle the Board Game" - for making the game materials available for open access; 
  • Professor Ollman and the folks at Class Struggle, Inc. - for developing and publishing the original game.

This copy of the game is published under the copyleft license and, in the true spirit of the ideal of a classless society, is not to be copied or sold for gain profit. All images used for the game are free images from the Internet.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way a professional board game designer, and this is my first attempt at making a print & play board game. So, naturally, this version may contain mistakes, technical errors, and an all-around sloppy design. Sorry for that.

***************

УКР: «Класова боротьба» — це настільна гра, розроблена професором Бертеллом Оллманом і опублікована в США в 1978 році. Вона відображає реальну боротьбу між класами в нашому суспільстві.

У грі гравці беруть на себе ролі різних класів, щоб змагатися один з одним, намагаючись перемогти в Революції. Для цього гравці просуваються по дошці, укладаючи та розриваючи альянси, збираючі сильні та слабкі сторони, які визначають результат класових протистоянь, що відбуваються на цьому шляху.

Через 45 років після публікації гри класова боротьба все ще триває і не збирається вщухати. Від накопичення влади транснаціональними корпораціями і глобальної екологічної кризи до зростання популярності профспілок робітників, імперіалістичних війн і нової загрози ядерного апокаліпсису – усі теми гри такі ж актуальні у 2023 році, як і в 1978 році (або навіть більше).

Подяки:

  • Активістам Української громадської організації «Соціальний рух» та студентської профспілки «Пряма дія» – за підтримку під час роботи над проектом;
  • Користувачам subreddit r/socialism та фейсбук-спільноти «Class Struggle the Board Game» — за розміщення матеріалів гри у відкритому доступі;
  • Професору Оллман і співробітникам Class Struggle, Inc. - за розробку та публікацію оригінальної гри.

Ця копія гри опублікована за ліцензією copyleft  і, у справжньому дусі ідеалу безкласового суспільства, не може бути скопійована чи продана з метою отримання прибутку. Усі зображення, які використовуються у грі, є безкоштовними зображеннями з Інтернету.

DISCLAIMER: я жодним чином не є професійним дизайнером настільних ігор, і це моя перша спроба самостійно зверстати та роздрукувати настільну гру. Тому ця версія може містити одруківки, технічні помилки та взагалі недбалий дизайн. Вибачте за це.

StatusReleased
CategoryPhysical game
Rating
Rated 1.0 out of 5 stars
(1 total ratings)
AuthorValeriy Petrov
GenreRacing
TagsBoard Game, Classes, Cult Classic, Dice, Historical, politics

Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

Bertell Ollman's Class Struggle PnP assets - English version.zip 75 MB
Класова Боротьба Бертелла Оллмана - українська версія.rar 75 MB
Bertell Ollman's Class Struggle_Turkish version.zip 77 MB
Bertell Ollman's Class Struggle rules - English version.pdf 1.7 MB
Класова Боротьба Бертелла Оллмана - українська версія.pdf 1.8 MB
Bertell Ollman's Class Struggle rules - Turkish version.pdf 226 kB
publication_instructions_eng.pdf 843 kB
інструкція до друку_укр.pdf 770 kB
publication_instructions_tur.pdf 744 kB

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

Hello Valeriy, 

Thank you so much for this! I am a fellow socialist in the process of learning the Godot engine, and I wonder if I can get your permission to recreate this game in Godot. I don't know enough to make a multiplayer game, so it will be a single player game with remaining classes being simulated. It will never be released commercially or for profit, it's purely for my learning and you will be fully credited if I upload to itch. Thanks and Solidarity!

Thank you for reaching out!

I think your idea is great, I'm all for it! As a disclaimer, I should note, that I am in no position to permit anyone about this game since it is not mine and this version is just a slightly re-designed version of the original. 

In any case, I am excited that this game will be adapted to the digital form. I'm very eager to play it, and if you'll ever need a playtester for your prototype, you can count me in :)

(1 edit) (+1)

This would be perfect! Imagine all communists of the world play this online! ☺️ Maybe one day you can manage to create a multiplayer version 😇

Yay, that would be awesome )))

(+1)

Hello dear Valeriy!

May I contact with you via e-mail regarding the game? I was preparing the Turkish version but I didn't have enough time to prepare board and cards in Photoshop. So I can give you translations and you can publish here, too of course if you want. 

Thank you!

Hello!

Sure, write me at petrovvalery88@gmail.com.

(+1)

Thank you, Valeriy! I sent you an e-mail. You can check :)

(+1)

Just wanted to thank you very much for taking the time to make this PDF version possible and allowing many of us to play this classic game for the first time.

To assist you in future versions, here are some corrections for the for the Workers and Capitalist chance cards.


Workers chance cards are missing the card which says:  "Your class allies have lost confidence in your leadership and  want to keep a closer eye on what you do.   Take all your allies and go back to the beginning of the stage of the class struggle on which you stand."  I just wrote one out on a blank card, with that and 3 blank cards players can have a complete 34 card set.

Capitalist chance cards have a double up of the "Rockfeller gets photographed givin people the finger it's not wise letting people see waht capitalists really think of them. While you think of new ways to fool the people miss a turn of the dice." card.  So simply omit one of these.  Also the capitalist chance card that begins with: "All your propaganda says a person is free when government lets him alone."  is missing a line at the card that should read exactly:  "(If you can't pay up, move back two spaces.)"  But perhaps you omitted this on purpose for this new version of the game.

With these corrections, players will find they now have a complete 34 card set of each of the class chance cards, just don't forget each set should also have 3 blanks.

I'll submit more updates if I find anything while playing.  Looking forward, it's a fascinating educational game.

Thank you,

Sean.

Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you've found this game interesting, it is a classic worth of more attention.

Great notices, I'll definitely put them in the next update.