
- BGG rank
- BGG #4,027
- BGG rating
- 7.2
Sabotage
- 1–4 players
- 60–90 min
- Complexity 2.9/5
- 2019

Rules assistance for NewSpeak: Dissonance
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
NewSpeak: Dissonance is an expansion for NewSpeak released in 2018 for 1–2 players, 20–45 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Peter Blenkharn and Rose Atkinson and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Push Your Luck, and Area Majority / Influence.
1-2 player expansion for NewSpeak. For the 1-player component of NewSpeak: Dissoance, players take the role of a solitary Moderator, looking over a conversation between two suspected dissidents, which you must decode using the Moderator Code Cards and Moderator Dashboard as you would in the core game. Incorrectly determining the meeting location of dissidents will lead to penalties as well as additional clues as you progress through a narrative campaign. For the 2-player component of NewSpeak: Dissonance, players adopt the personas of two dissidents, attempting to communicate with each other to meet in secret without falling foul of the watchful gaze of the ModNet. Players each have access to incomplete information, which they must use in tandem by communicating using a limited set of coded messages to coordinate their movements.
NewSpeak: Dissonance supports 1–2 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for NewSpeak: Dissonance is 20–45 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 NewSpeak: Dissonance for ages 10 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.
NewSpeak: Dissonance belongs to these categories: Deduction, Murder / Mystery, and Bluffing. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Push Your Luck, and Area Majority / Influence. 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 NewSpeak: Dissonance are: Peter Blenkharn and Rose Atkinson. 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 NewSpeak: Dissonance as an expansion for NewSpeak. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need NewSpeak to use it. Check that your edition of NewSpeak is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.