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Maquis
- 1 player
- 30 min
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Austerity
2015
Rules assistance for Austerity
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1 player
- 10–20 min
- 8+
- Complexity 2.3/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Austerity
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Austerity is a board game released in 2015 for 1 player, 10–20 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Jake Staines and its main mechanics are Solo / Solitaire Game and Deck, Bag, and Pool Building.
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About the game
Austerity is a compact solo game in which you run a nation struggling under the burden of international debt - make decisions about police funding, investment in private enterprise, whether to crack down on welfare cheats and when best to borrow more money... but if you don't escape debt before your bad decisions catch up to you, you'll be out of office and out on the street with the rest of them! The state of the nation's finances are represented by a number of coloured cubes in a bag; these are drawn in pairs, and each pair corresponds to a different event that occurs - and which often ask the player to make a decision. The player adds cubes to the bag by choosing to fund different public institutions, borrow even more money or raise taxes, meaning that the player decides how the nation's money is spent, but doesn't directly choose the effects that spending has on the country.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- (Web published)
Questions and answers
Austerity supports 1 player according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Austerity is 10–20 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Austerity for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Austerity has a complexity rating of 2.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Austerity belongs to these categories: Economic, Print & Play, and Political. Its main mechanics are Solo / Solitaire Game and Deck, Bag, and Pool Building. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Austerity are: Jake Staines. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Austerity as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.