The Presidential is a game of strategy played with dice and chance cards on a beautifully designed map of the U.S. showing the Electoral College votes of each state. Two teams, Democrats and Republicans, fight for control of state delegations to ultimately win more than 270 electoral votes. The Presidential is an entertaining and educational family game -- fun for both students (13+) and adults. You may not know how the Electoral College works, but you'll enjoy the excitement of playing for the most powerful job in the world!
The Play of the Game
The 2 teams decide which side will be the Republicans and which side will be the Democrats. The Republicans take the 150 red votes (chips) and the 3 red dice. The Democrats take the 150 blue votes (chips) and the 3 blue dice. The teams then decide how much time there is until election day by selecting a number of weeks until the election. One each turn, each team must decide whether they will go Fundraising or Campaigning.
Fundraising
There are 4 states where a candidate can fund raise (California, New York, Florida and Texas). The team decides which state they would like to fund raise in and then rolls 2 dice.
If a team rolls a 9, they have 9 votes to distribute. At least 1/2 the votes must stay in the fundraising state.
The team then draws a Politics Card, follows the instructions, and returns the card face-down to the bottom of the deck. The Politics Cards offer many rewards and a few penalties to the teams. They are similar to rolling another die.
Politics Cards
Here are a few examples of the Politics Cards:
- Silicon Valley tycoons host a successful fundraiser for you. Add 6 votes to California.
- You receive a 100% approval rating from the NRA. Win 5 votes in Texas.
- A popular blogger unveils pictures of your opponent’s wife buying a brand new Bentley. Add 3 votes to Michigan.
- You are spotted wearing a Red Sox hat while prepping for a debate. Your opponent adds 3 votes to New York.
Campaigning
If a team chooses to campaign, the team selects and announces the 3 states they will campaign in on that turn. Each state may only be visited once each turn. The team then rolls 3 dice. The team then decides which die corresponds to each state and contributes those votes to that state.
Votes
Each chip equals 1 vote. Votes are gained through the roll of the dice and the Politics Cards. At any one time, each state is Republican (Red), Democrat (Blue) or neutral. The votes in a state represent the net amount of chips that have been allocated by both parties.
End of the Game
When time is up (the number of weeks that was selected have passed), there may be several states that are undecided (still neutral) either because they are in a tie or no team has campaigned in them or allocated them fund raising money. At that point, a neutral state is selected and each team rolls a die. The highest die wins the state and the electoral votes go to that team. If there is a tie roll, the teams roll again. The team with the highest number of electoral votes after all the neutral states have been awarded to either team wins the game.
