KOMMISSAR The People's Game ~ by Selchow & Righter ~ Vintage 1966 Board Game Kommissar is a vintage board game by Selchow & Righter, produced in 1966. A Cold War era game, Kommissar is based on the economics of USSR -- or at least how Americans imagined the economics of communist commerce worked. The goal of the game is to flee the country, but getting to the People's Airport is not enough. You must also have collected enough Rubles (500) in order to get on the plane to "retire in a warmer climate," if not a democratic or capitalistic place. So how do you get Rubles in the USSR back in the 1960s? Why by collecting forbidden American or Western items (such as cowboy boots, Bermuda shorts, and nylon stockings) and then selling them for cash at the People's Hock-Shop, of course! You can make a lot of money that way -- so long as the Kommissar doesn't catch you, that is. This is a game for two to four players, however there are five pawns; the black one is for the Kommissar. (More on him in a bit.) In order show how "backward" communism is, movement on the game board is counter-clockwise, as opposed the traditional clockwise. And, when your turn is over, it's the player on your right's turn. When it is your turn, you roll the dice and follow the directions on the game board spaces. This often means drawing cards from one of the two decks. The brown deck is the People's deck, and it contains all the forbidden contraband as well as Party Cards -- as in Communist Party Cards, which can be used to protect yourself later. The red deck is the Kommissar deck. This one is full of bad things, such as being sent to Siberia and the People's Jail, but it also contains Party Cards.