REROLLING
Respin rules: when you can reroll
In Classic Draft, before you press “View Candidates,” you can respin the category, the country, or both. Respins are free and unlimited. Once you view the six candidates for a round, that combination is locked.
Respins are off in Daily Challenge. The five rounds are fixed for everyone playing that day, so you work with whatever category and country the game gives you.
A respin rerolls only the part you choose. If the category is good but the country looks thin, reroll just the country. If the pairing might be invalid, rerolling the country is usually safer because most categories have candidates in more countries than the reverse.
EMPTY POOLS
Invalid combinations and what they mean
Not every category exists in every country. Some pairings produce zero candidates: Atheists of Vatican City, Theists of North Korea, Military Commanders of Iceland, Military Commanders of Monaco, Wrestlers of Vatican City, Rappers of Vatican City, and Pop Stars of Vatican City. Vatican City has few candidates across most categories.
In Classic mode, respin before viewing candidates if you suspect a pairing is empty. In Daily mode, the game skips invalid combinations when building the five rounds, so you always see six real candidates. When a valid pairing has fewer than six real candidates, the game fills the remaining slots with generated placeholder names.
THE MATH
Baseline and role fit
Every cabinet starts at 125 points. The game calculates a role fit percentage from 0 to 100 based on how well each candidate's category matches their assigned position, using internal weight tables. A perfect fit across all five roles adds the full 100, bringing the pre-bonus total to 225. A terrible fit can leave you near the baseline. The weight tables are not shown in the game itself, but the category weight highlights section below pulls a few numbers from them so you can see how the math works.
Graded combo bonuses
Four of the five roles have tiered category bonuses. The Vice President has no tiered bonus; their score depends only on role fit. President: Politicians or Dictators add 11, Military Commanders or Billionaires add 8. General: Military Commanders or Dictators add 11, Wrestlers or Athletes add 8. Treasurer: Billionaires or Politicians add 11, Thieves add 8. Propaganda Minister: Pop Stars or TV Hosts add 11, Rappers, Comedians, or Poets add 8.
Global alliance bonus
If your five cabinet members represent at least two different countries, you gain 4 points. Three or more countries adds 8. A cabinet from one nation gets nothing.
No-authority penalty
If none of your five picks are Politicians, Dictators, or Military Commanders, the game multiplies your entire score by 0.65. That can drop a 150-point cabinet to under 100.
Joke pick penalties
Placing Poets or Porn Stars in the General seat costs 14 points. Placing them in the Treasurer seat costs 10. These are the only two seats with category-specific penalties. The President, Vice President, and Propaganda Minister seats have no penalties for any category.
Battlefield variance
After all bonuses and penalties, the game adds a random number from 0 to 20. The same cabinet can score differently across simulations. A cabinet that scored 140 on one run might score 155 on the next with identical picks. The variance is the reason replaying the Daily Challenge can pay off even when your cabinet stays the same.
Score cap
The game clamps the final number to 0 to 195. The name of the game is the maximum possible score, not a guarantee. Hitting 195 needs near-perfect role fits, combo bonuses, a multi-country alliance, an authority figure, and a high variance roll.
GAME MODES
Classic vs Daily
Classic mode is free play. You can start unlimited runs, respin any round before viewing candidates, and experiment with strange combinations. Classic runs count toward the “Classic Today” and “All Time” leaderboards. Use Classic to learn which categories fit which roles and to test risky lineups.
Daily mode gives everyone the same five rounds and the same thirty candidates. You cannot respin. The game saves only your best score for the day. The puzzle resets at 00:00 UTC, and a countdown on the Daily pageshows when the next one arrives. Daily scores count toward the “Daily Challenge” leaderboard and a streak counter that tracks consecutive days played.
SEATING ORDER
Role priority: which seat to fill first
The General and Treasurer have the harshest penalties for bad fits, so fill them first when a strong candidate appears. The President has the highest single bonus ceiling but no penalty, so you can fill it later without risk. The Propaganda Minister bonus is smaller and the Vice President has no tiered bonus at all. Both work as fallback seats for candidates who do not fit anywhere else.
Grab a Military Commander or Dictator early and lock them into General before the round forces you to use them elsewhere. A Billionaire should go to Treasurer, not Vice President, even if the VP seat is empty and tempting.
WEIGHT TABLE
Category weight highlights
The game assigns each category a weight from 6 to 58 for every role. Higher weights produce higher role fit scores. A few standouts: Politicians score 58 as President but only 20 as General. Military Commanders score 56 as General but only 32 as Propaganda Minister. Pop Stars score 46 as Propaganda Minister but just 24 as Treasurer. Poets score 54 as Propaganda Minister, which surprises new players who assume Poets are always a bad pick.
The lowest weight in the table is 6, shared by Porn Stars as General and as Treasurer. The joke pick penalty stacks on top of the low weight. Putting someone unsuited in charge of the military or treasury costs you twice.
CANDIDATE POOLS
Country pool sizes and what to expect
Candidate pool sizes vary widely. The USA, United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China have full rosters across nearly all sixteen categories. Mid-size countries like Brazil, India, Japan, and Germany cover most categories with a few gaps. Small nations like Vatican City, Monaco, and Iceland have very few categories filled. They produce more generated placeholder names.
This affects respin decisions in Classic mode. If you see a small country paired with a niche category, rerolling the country before viewing candidates is usually safer. In Daily mode the pools are fixed, so country pool size is part of the puzzle. A round that gives you Monaco plus Chefs will have mostly generated names, and your score will reflect that whether you like it or not.
AFTER THE GAME
Submitting your score to the leaderboard
After the simulation, type a commander name and press “Submit.” The leaderboard shows your name, and your browser saves it for future runs. Names cap at 30 characters.
The leaderboard has three views. “Daily Challenge” ranks today's Daily runs. “Classic Today” ranks Classic runs from the current day. “All Time” ranks the highest scores ever submitted. Within each view, the leaderboard keeps only your best score per commander, so playing again can only improve your standing. Tied scores share the same rank number, and the earlier submission shows first.
