Be a Chief Minister for a day

The four things you protect as a Chief Minister

• 🗳️
  Approval

  If Approval reaches zero, your day ends early with “Lost the confidence of the House”. Voters turned on you. Your party quietly started discussing who should replace you.

  38% of the choices in this role lower it, and 50% raise it.

• 🏦
  Treasury

  If Treasury reaches zero, your day ends early with “Salaries cannot be paid”. The treasury ran dry. The state is in a financial emergency and so are you.

  46% of the choices in this role lower it, and 10% raise it.

• 🛡️
  Order

  If Order reaches zero, your day ends early with “The governor steps in”. Law and order broke down. The government was dismissed before the evening news.

  17% of the choices in this role lower it, and 31% raise it.

• 🏗️
  Progress

  If Progress reaches zero, your day ends early with “Sundarpur stands still”. Nothing got built and nothing moved. Voters now call your term “the long pause”.

  8% of the choices in this role lower it, and 35% raise it.

Tips for a better day as a Chief Minister

1. Do not chase one number. In every role, a day with all four meters between 50 and 70 beats a day with one meter at 95 and another at 10. As a Chief Minister, the danger is rarely the big mistake. It is the quiet neglect of one meter.
2. Watch Treasury most closely. In this role, 46% of choices lower it, which makes it the meter that slips away fastest. Progress is the most forgiving, with 8% of choices lowering it.
3. Read your advisors as opinions, not answers. Each one backs the option that helps the meters they care about, so when they disagree, ask which meter you can least afford to lose today.
4. Look for the choice that gives you something back. Many of the best options cost one meter a little and help two others. The tempting “easy” option often costs more than it seems.
5. Remember that choices can come back. A decision in the morning may return as a follow-up situation later in the day, so a quick fix early on can be expensive at six in the evening.

A sample day, step by step

Here is one example of how a careful player might get through a day as a Chief Minister. It uses six of the sixteen situations, picks the option with the best overall balance each time, and shows what each choice did. Your own day will be different, because situations are drawn at random and some choices bring follow-ups later.

1. 7:00 AM

   A factory, with conditions

   A big car company will build a plant in Sundarpur if you give them cheap land and a long tax holiday. It would create 20,000 jobs.

   Chosen: “Negotiate harder”. They shave a little off the demands and agree to hire locally.

   🏦 Treasury +5🏗️ Progress +10

   The road not taken: “Say no”. The treasury is safe. The company announces a plant in the next state.

   Standing after this call: 🗳️ 50 · 🏦 55 · 🛡️ 50 · 🏗️ 60

2. 9:30 AM

   A scandal in your own cabinet

   A newspaper reports that one of your ministers took money for a road contract. He is also a loyal ally.

   Chosen: “Remove him now”. Your allies grumble. The public sees a leader who acts.

   🗳️ Approval +15🛡️ Order +5🏗️ Progress −5

   The road not taken: “Defend him”. The story does not die. Neither does the hashtag.

   Standing after this call: 🗳️ 65 · 🏦 55 · 🛡️ 55 · 🏗️ 55

3. 12:00 PM

   Free electricity

   The opposition promises free electricity for every household. Your phone is lit up with people asking what you will do.

   Chosen: “Say no and fix the power supply instead”. The grid improves. The applause takes longer to arrive.

   🗳️ Approval −10🏦 Treasury +10🏗️ Progress +10

   The road not taken: “Match their offer”. Voters cheer. Your finance team makes a very small sound.

   Standing after this call: 🗳️ 55 · 🏦 65 · 🛡️ 55 · 🏗️ 65

4. 3:00 PM

   The river is rising

   Heavy rain has flooded the low-lying parts of the capital. Thousands of people are on their rooftops and the cameras are ready.

   Chosen: “Declare an emergency and open the relief fund”. Boats, food and shelters arrive fast. The treasury feels it.

   🗳️ Approval +15🏦 Treasury −20🛡️ Order +5

   The road not taken: “Blame the previous government”. The water keeps rising. So does the anger.

   Standing after this call: 🗳️ 70 · 🏦 45 · 🛡️ 60 · 🏗️ 65

5. 6:00 PM

   Land for a stadium

   A sports federation wants a 50-acre plot for a world-class stadium. Local villagers use that land for grazing.

   Chosen: “Give the land”. Cranes arrive. Cows are confused.

   🗳️ Approval −5🏗️ Progress +20

   The road not taken: “Decline”. The villagers are relieved. The federation is not.

   Standing after this call: 🗳️ 65 · 🏦 45 · 🛡️ 60 · 🏗️ 85

6. 9:00 PM

   Rumours before the fair

   A rumour spreading on messaging apps says two communities will clash during tomorrow’s local fair. Nothing has happened yet.

   Chosen: “Call a peace meeting with local leaders”. Handshakes, speeches and a calm fair.

   🗳️ Approval +10🛡️ Order +10

   The road not taken: “Wait and watch”. Waiting does not help. The fair turns tense.

   Standing after this call: 🗳️ 75 · 🏦 45 · 🛡️ 70 · 🏗️ 85

Situations you may face

Every game uses six of these sixteen situations, so you will not meet them all in one day. There are also 4 follow-up situations that return after specific choices and 3 surprises that can appear without warning.

• The river is rising. Heavy rain has flooded the low-lying parts of the capital. Thousands of people are on their rooftops and the cameras are ready.
• The highway blockade. Farmers have blocked the main highway, demanding a higher price for their crops. Trucks are lined up for 30 kilometres.
• A factory, with conditions. A big car company will build a plant in Sundarpur if you give them cheap land and a long tax holiday. It would create 20,000 jobs.
• Free electricity. The opposition promises free electricity for every household. Your phone is lit up with people asking what you will do.
• Rumours before the fair. A rumour spreading on messaging apps says two communities will clash during tomorrow’s local fair. Nothing has happened yet.
• The cracked bridge. An engineer says the old city bridge has serious cracks and should be shut. Closing it will wreck the evening commute for 200,000 people.
• A scandal in your own cabinet. A newspaper reports that one of your ministers took money for a road contract. He is also a loyal ally.
• The exam paper leak. The question paper for a major state exam leaked last night. A million students are due to sit the test in two hours.
• The influencer review. A travel influencer’s video calls your capital the dirtiest city in the country. It has four million views.
• The metro and the trees. A new metro line would save hours of commuting, but it requires cutting down a century-old avenue of trees.
• A power cut in the capital. A transformer failure has blacked out the capital during the hottest week of the year. Phones are ringing in every office.
• Doctors on strike. Government doctors are on strike over security at hospitals. Outpatient wards are empty.
• A ribbon for a rooftop garden. A bright young team built a rooftop garden on a government school. The press wants you to cut the ribbon.
• Land for a stadium. A sports federation wants a 50-acre plot for a world-class stadium. Local villagers use that land for grazing.
• A very long queue. A new government certificate website crashed. People have queued overnight at offices.
• The opposition rally. The opposition has planned a huge rally in the capital on the same day as your own event.

Every ending (spoilers)