Hire or Fire 2026

In Hire or Fire?, players take on the roles of headhunters who are looking to fill their own job openings while simultaneously applying for their own dream jobs. Over four rounds, each representing one week, everyone plays simultaneously.

Each week, every player chooses a job card from their hand as the position they are offering. At the same time, each player applies for another player's job by secretly assembling an application consisting of a previous job, a strength, a weakness, and a salary expectation. Job and skill cards used in an application are discarded after the round, and each salary expectation can be used only once during the game.

Once all applications have been submitted, they are shuffled and presented anonymously. Players then simultaneously choose the applicant they consider the best fit for the job they are offering. If you are selected for your designated dream job, you earn your chosen salary, while the player who hired you receives a bonus. Being selected for a different job earns you a smaller compensation, while receiving no job offer earns you nothing.

After four weeks, the game ends. Players add together the salaries, hiring bonuses, and compensation they have earned. The player who has earned the most money wins. Ties are broken first by the number of bonuses and then by the number of compensation payments received.

—description from the publisher