Optimal Way to Play The Purist?

The Party Line game is designed around changing goals and shifting alliances. Like we say, you need to deduce who to trust and then decide on the best deal that will either help you win or accept a tie with someone at the table you can tolerate.

With all this flexibility built into the game, is there a “right way” to play? For one faction at least, there is definitely an optimal way to play, if you want to earn the Farmer’s deep admiration and taste sweet, sweet victory after five rounds. Which faction do you ask?

The Purist.

Let’s take a step back for a quick reminder of the Purist’s goals in The Party Line. You are a defender of the Farmer and are primarily interested in weeding out those whose hearts are not truly in it. To win, the Purist must be in “The Party” at the end of the game and identify one Opportunist to gain The Farmer’s favor. There’s nothing in the rules that says the Loyalists need to be in the majority. The Purist simply must be in The Party at the end of the game to take a shot at naming an Opp.

Seems simple enough. Purists play the “Sheriff” role in our social deduction game. Right?  They are good guys.  Right?  Not necessarily. Remember, in The Party Line game, the Opportunists can win along with the Loyalists by staying loyal and never flipping out of the Party. An Opportunist who has not been flipped out, might decide to play like the “good guys” and sneak in a win by being nice. They only need to start playing for the opposition once they get flipped out. As we all know, an Opp who flips out once never really comes back to being loyal to the Farmer, no matter how many Sweet Grapevine cards they have.

If the Purist wants a chance to win, the Party may need a little push. A little chaos. You can’t sus out bad behavior if everyone is getting along. If players aren’t getting flipped out of The Party based solely on their own bad decisions, the Purist might need to take matters into their own paws, claws, or hooves and start giving other players a nudge out the door. Sure, you could accidentally flip out a loyalist, but that won’t hurt the Purist. If you end the game in The Party, you will get your shot at identifying an Opportunist. That’s all that matters to you.

If being a duplicitous, backstabbing, cold-hearted, calculating, single-minded defender of the Farmer is not a good fit for your play style, that’s ok. Play the Purist your way and prove me wrong.