Hi! My name is Max and I’m the designer of Billionaires & Guillotines, a new board game from Pluto Press, coming out early in 2026.

Finally, it’s the billionaire simulator you and your friends have been waiting for! In the board game Billionaires & Guillotines, 2-5 players will take on the roles of rival plutocrats, competing to accumulate the wealth of the world before their actions trigger a revolution and they all lose… a lot more than their assets.

Will you play the media baron or the property speculator? The aristocrat or the tech overlord? Whoever you play, the aim is to acquire five extravagant assets prized by the super-rich (a mega yacht, a celebrity spouse, art masterpieces and more!) and prevent your opponents from achieving their dreams.

But watch out! As you compete to gobble up ever more resources, crises cascade out of control: wildfires and floods, pandemics and doomsday cults… At the final moment, will you collaborate to put down the rebellions, or escape into your luxury bunker?

If you or your organization might be interested in hosting me, please get in touch: mhaiven AT lakeheadu DOT ca

This tour is supported as part of my work as a professor and the Canada Research Chair in the Radical Imagination at Lakehead University, and also by Pluto Press.

The game

Who is it for?

Billionaires & Guillotines is designed for all sorts of players above the age of 14 (and precocious people under that age as well). While people who “hate board games” may never see the light, the game has got rave reviews from both serious gamers and casual players around the world.

The game is designed in four levels of complexity and I can teach the most basic level and get people playing in about 15 minutes. You can finish a game at that level, or, when everyone is ready, add another level to enhance the fun.

Billionaires & Guillotines is competitive, but there are opportunities for collaboration. It’s a board game, rather than a role-playing game, but players are encouraged to get into character! Although the game doesn’t rely on words, a good grasp of English is important to be able to understand the rules.

How is it played?

Billionaires & Guillotines is designed in four levels, so you can start with a simple game and add more complexity and fun when you are ready.

1. Grab the assets, crush your rivals

In the first level, select your billionaire (aristocrat, media baron, property speculatory, tech overlord, or war profiteer). Each billionaire needs to collect five assets to win, so head to the market using cards you draw to your hand to try and buy the treasures you cherish (eg. a private zoo, a mega yacht, a tabloid empire and more!). Sprint for victory, but if the odds aren’t in your favour why not get your more successful opponents audited by the tax authorities, run a scam or game the markets? 

2. But there’s a revolution brewing

The second level is where things really get challenging. As the billionaire’s competition heats up, their greed begins to have its consequences: political and ecological crises start to randomly cascade out of control, including floods, collapsing infrastructure and doomsday cults. With each crisis rebellions break out and if they grow too large a revolution will end the game for everyone. On the brink of disaster, you’ll have one chance only to put aside your differences and cooperate as a class to undermine the revolution, and then may the best (or worst) billionaire win!

3. Employ the advanced plutocrat tactics

Can’t I just run away to my disaster bunker? Yes, of course! In the third level of Billionaires & Guillotines! Additionally, each billionaire will get a special secret role that offers special powers. Maybe you’ll be the banker who gets to cheat, the gangster who gets to steal, or the celebrity who is so popular they win when all their competitors succumb to the revolution.

4. Bribe the government

Why not simply pay the government to put down the rebellions, favour your investments, or sabotage your opponents? We’ve heard you! In level four you’ll be stuffing envelopes full of cash to ensure the democratic process goes your way.

There is also a 2-player version of the game, where your billionaire will control another billionaire from the shadows!

Is Billionaires & Guillotines fun?

Yes! Or so our players tell us.

If you’d like to learn more, you can check out:

• this promotional video
• this interview about the game
• this short overview
• or this (slightly out of date) long tutorial.

The tour

Where and when

I will be touring in the UK and in Western Europe (and potentially other places) in February and March 2026.

What and how

Gaming sessions

I am happy to facilitate playtest sessions of Billionaires & Guillotines at game stores, academic venues, community spaces and… anywhere else!

I’ve become very good at teaching the basics of the game and getting people playing in about 15-minutes, and players can complete a first basic game in about 35-45 minutes.

I have tended to find it useful to mix-and-match the following elements

• Max gives a short introduction to the game (+15mins, suggested)
• A play session of the game (60-90mins)
• A facilitated debrief discussion about the game’s themes (+30mins, suggested)
• Opportunity to play the advanced game (+1h)

Games can be played in groups of 2-5 people. It rarely works well to team-up players (i.e. 2 people playing one player) as it makes the game long and boring. Better to split into more “tables.” I’m experienced at teaching up to 10-12 tables to play at the same time (up to 50+ players). Each game requires a table around which the players can sit with a space of about 75x75cm at a minimum.

Public and academic talks

I am prepared to deliver the following talks for the general public

• Games: The dangerous medium of 21st century politics
• We’re being played: Fascist billionaires and the gamification of capitalism (and resistance!)
• Agency, conviviality, and fun: What community organizers must learn from games

I am also prepared to offer academic talks from my forthcoming MIT Press book The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st Century Fascism (Fall 2026)

• The rise of the playgrom: Gamified fascistic swarm violence after financialization
• Silicon Valley’s malign worldbuilding and worldrazing: From colonialism
• The rules of the cheat: On fake fairness and fascist fun
• What is the antifascist game today?

Game-making workshops

I have led game-making workshops for many audiences, including at Princeton University, the Historical Materialism conference, Berliner Gazette’s Pluriverse of Peace conference and more.

• My workshops require absolutely no prior experience and make use of simple materials which I can bring (pens and paper, etc.)
• Workshops can be scheduled for as little as 3h and as much as 2-3 days, depending on the group’s objectives. Let’s talk.
• These workshops can be made open to a wide public, or I can do them for a small defined group
• I generally offer two kinds of workshops
  • One for activist and community groups aimed at demonstrating how game elements can be integrated into organizing to improve engagement
  • One for academics (generally in social sciences and humanities) focused on how game-making can be an illuminating way to open up research questions by focusing on finding agency in complex systems

Costs and needs

This project is a labour of love and of activism, so money is not the most important factor, but it does help.

Thanks to funding from the RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab and Pluto Press, we are able to offer these activities at a reduced cost (or potentially at no cost to our hosts).

The following would be appreciated, but may not be required as we have subsidies (please get in touch):

• Economy travel costs for me (usually based in London, but travelling frequently)
• A place to stay (I’m open to staying in a host’s spare room, although I’m not as young as I used to be)
• If your institution has the capacity to offer payment, it helps cover the costs of the tour and also visits to places that cannot. I usually recommend a rate of €/£150 per hour. So a 90 minute talk is €/£225. A 3h workshop is €/£450, etc. however this is negotiable.

More information

The designer

Max Haiven is a writer and teacher and Canada Research Chair in the Radical Imagination.

His most recent books are Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire (2022), Revenge Capitalism: The Ghosts of Empire, the Demons of Capital, and the Settling of Unpayable Debts (2020) and Art after Money, Money after Art: Creative Strategies Against Financialization (2018).

He is currently working on a book for the MIT Press tentatively titled The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st Century Fascism and a board game, Billionaires and Guillotines.

He has hosted several interview-driven podcasts, including recently Against the Fascist Game (2025) and The Exploits of Play (2024).

He led a team that recently published The World After Amazon: Stories from Amazon Workers (2024).

Haiven is editor of VAGABONDS, a series of short, radical books from Pluto Press.

He teaches at Lakehead University, where he directs the ReImagining Value Action Lab (RiVAL).

As part of Sense & Solidarity, he offers strategy and communications workshops for social movements.

Information for hosts

How to order copies of the game

We are currently waiting for the game to ship to Europe, but it should be at the warehouses in mid-January 2026.

Pluto (the publisher) is also amidst a website revamp, so preorder is not yet possible, however:

• Sign up to be notified when pre-order is possible by clicking here.
• Pre-ordering copies now: Please email Veruschka at Pluto and let her know how many games you’d like to buy: veruschka AT plutobooks DOT com
• Getting a demo copy to try: Please email Veruschka at Pluto: veruschka AT plutobooks DOT com
• Bulk ordering for retail: If you are a store, you can order the game from the supplier, Gardners.
• Playing a digital version: We have created a version of the game for Tabletop Simulator. It’s a bit clunky, but it does the job. Get in touch if you’d like access.

Promotional copy and images you can use

Coming soon!