Description

This is an auction-based roll-and-move election game that adds party and platform-based strategy.

To start the game, prevailing public opinion is rolled (6- Democrat, 7 Independent, 8+ Republican on 2D6). In addition, each player chooses one of five alignments (moderate or conservative Republican, Independent, moderate or liberal Democrat), and secretly chooses up to 6 of the 15 available issues. The 30 issue tiles are shuffled and 3 placed randomly on each side of the board (region): North, East, South and West. The track around the board has a variety of plus or minus spaces, but six out of 10 spaces on each side are blank and trigger auctions.

The player landing on the space can put any unclaimed state in his current region up for auction. Bids are secret and paid in Political Capital (PC), the game’s currency, and players pay their bids whether they win or lose the auction! After their bids are revealed, they are modified by regional issue matches (1/3 = 5 PC; 2/3 = 10 PC; 3/3 = 20 PC) and any card bonuses. Finally, all players roll dice that depend on their affiliations and the state’s preference. (A pink state gives 3 extra D6 to a moderate democrat, 2D6 to a liberal democrat, 1D6 to an Independent, and nothing to Republicans.) The highest total then wins the auction.

While issues help in some states, taking fewer stands allows a player to collect more PC for each circuit of the board. As soon as a Republican and Democratic candidate reach 5 states with 50+ electoral votes, they win the party nomination, and other players in the party either drop out or become independents. Three scenarios are available: full campaign to electoral vote majority; most electoral votes after one time through the Momentum card deck; or a short game won by the first player to win at least one state in every region with at least 50 electoral votes.