Guide to Campaign Trail - The party with the player that voted most recently is the
SET-UP
- Place board in the center of the play area.
- Assemble the Electoral College track and place it above
the board.
- Place each Electoral College marker in the groove of the
party matching the color of the state’s primary tiebreaker –
the star on the left.
- Place all voter tokens next to the board. This forms the
undecided voters supply. These voters must be registered
before they can be used.
- In each state on the board, place 2 voters of the party
matching the state’s primary tiebreaker. These are referred
to as committed voters.
- Separate the money into two stacks (10s & 20s) and place
them on the indicated spaces on the board.
- Shuffle the candidate cards and deal two to each player.
Each player then chooses one and returns the other to the
box. In a team game, running mates should collaborate. Be
sure to adjust any starting resources based on abilities.
- Shuffle the action cards and deal 5 to each player. Divide
the remaining cards into 3 equal piles and place one on
each month space.
- Give a party reference booklet, home state markers, and
candidate pawns to each party. In a 2p/3p game, the VP
pawns are not used.
- Each player takes the number of voters shown on their
candidate card. These are registered voters. These are
voters that are available to the PARTY. These voters are
DOUBLED if there is only ONE player in the party.
- Each player takes the amount of money shown on their
candidate card. This amount is the war chest. These are
the funds that are available to the PARTY. These voters are
DOUBLED if there is only ONE player in the party.
- Place the debate arena center piece beside the board.
Select only the track pieces for parties in the game.
- Shuffle the debate topic cards and select 2 and place one
on each indicated space on the board, returning the rest to
the box.
- Randomly select 2 debate city markers and place one on
each indicated space on the board, returning the rest to the
box.
- Place the 6 debate issue markers corresponding to the
icons on the first debate topic card on the center circle of
the debate arena. Place the 12 remaining debate issue
markers nearby.
- Each player chooses a home state from the reference
states (top of card) shown on their cards, showing this state
on the card. Each player then places their home state
marker and candidate pawn on the chosen state and places
2 of their UNDECIDED VOTERS onto that state. Multiple
players CAN have the same home state (including if they are
from the same party). UPDATE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE,
IF NEEDED.
starting party. Place the turn order markers in clockwise
order. Same party members should sit together.
For two-party - 2p and 4p games:
 Do NOT place any counters in the groove for the
party not in play. Instead, place the counter in the
groove of the party with the secondary tiebreaker.
 Do NOT place any voters for the party not in play.
Instead, place ONE voter of the party with the
secondary tiebreaker.
For 2p games:
 Remove the 15 cards with the icon “not for 2p”.
GAMEPLAY
Each candidate will have unique starting resources as well
as an advantage and disadvantage.
The game is played over the course of 3 months. After the
final card is drawn from the August and September decks, a
debate will be held. After the final card is drawn from the
October deck, Election Day occurs with any final voters
getting placed due to cards played during the game.
Each month is divided into rounds. Each round, each PARTY
takes a turn. If there are two players in a party, those
players decide which order they will play in. After all
candidates in a party have had a turn, then the next party
will take its turn.
On your turn, you will play one card from your hand, then:
1.) Choose 1 action on that card
2.) Carry out the action
3.) Discard the card after ALL actions have been carried
out
4.) Refresh up to 5 cards
In a 5p game, the solo player will take two COMPLETE
consecutive turns.
After both members of a party have taken their turns, they
can exchange cards. In order to exchange cards:
 BOTH candidates must be in the SAME region
 Trades MUST be even
 Trades CANNOT be more than 3-for-3 cards
There are 9 colored regions on the board.
Scoring
Scoring is handled real-time via the Electoral College track.
A state’s token is placed on the party’s track with the
MAJORITY of the committed voters.
Be sure to take note of the tiebreaker stars.
Any time that voters in a state change, verify majority for
the Electoral College track to be accurate and adjust all
counters so that there are no gaps.
ACTIONS
There are 6 different actions, divided into support actions
(Travel/Fundraise/Register) and direct actions (Advertise/
Campaign/Politick).
Each card has only 4 of the 6 possible actions. Players may
NOT take an action not depicted on their played card.
Support actions are on the left of the cards and direct
actions are on the right and the bottom.
1 – TRAVEL (T)
This is how you move your candidate pawn around the
board. Most travel actions have a number that indicates
the number of states the candidate can move.
If the travel action has a plane icon, you can move to any of
the 10 CITIES. If it has a plane icon + 1, you can move to
any city and then one additional space or vice versa. If it
has a 5/plane, then you can EITHER move 5 spaces or to any
city.
Adjacency – CA is adjacent to HI. UT, CO, AZ, and NM are
ALL adjacent to each other. You MAY move to DC, but it is
NOT a city for game purposes. DC is adjacent to MD and
VA.
2 – FUNDRAISE (F)
This is how you get money into your war chest. The
number below the icon indicates how much money you get.
3 – REGISTER (R)
This is how you move undecided voters to your registered
voters supply. The number indicates how many you move.
4 – ADVERTISE (A)
This is a way to place a smaller amount of voters onto the
board that are in geographically separate areas. This action
contains 2, 3, or 4 issue icons. To take this action, you need
to do the following:
1.) Pay $20M per issue you want to advertise in. You may
choose any number that you want.
2.) For each issue, you MUST have the available registered
voters to place in each state containing that issue
3.) Place EXACTLY 1 voter into EACH state that contains the
issue you paid for.
On some cards, an issue will appear twice. You may use
these as if they were separate issues, paying $20M for each,
thus placing 1 voter EACH TIME.
Each card also has a map indicating in which states you can
advertise.
5 – CAMPAIGN (C)
This is a way to place larger amounts of voters onto the
board that are in geographically connected areas at a higher
cost.
Most campaign actions contain a list of states that you can
campaign in. To take this action, you need to do the
following:
1.) Your candidate pawn MUST be located in one of the
states listed under the campaign icon.
2.) You MUST pay $60M.
3.) You may place UP TO 6 voters TOTAL in the indicated
states in any manner you see fit. You do NOT need to
place any in the state that your candidate occupies.
If the campaign action indicates home state region, then it
indicates the ability to campaign in your home state region.
Your candidate pawn MUST still be in the region.
Each card also has a map indicating in which states you can
campaign.
6 – POLITICK (P)
This is the action to engage in partisan politics that allows
for a variety of miscellaneous activities.
Each politick action is carried out by one of three methods.
Instant (lightning bolt) – Carry out the text on the card,
then discard it.
Ongoing (infinity) – Play this card on the table in front of
you. Do NOT discard. Starting at the BEGINNING of your
NEXT turn, you may carry out the text on the card.
Response (arrow) – This type of politick action is played off
turn and is played in response to something an opponent
does. After playing it, you do NOT redraw to 5 cards. This
is only done at the end of YOUR turn.
DIRTY POLITICS
This module adds a more cutthroat attacking style of play.
These have the same basic structure, but a slightly different
lettering scheme that coincides with the basic actions.
Some Dirty Politic actions affect ETHICALLY-MINDED states.
When a card or rule refers to your ethically-minded states,
it is referring to states with the ethics icon (devil/angel) of
your party.
Dirty Politics actions still count as a subset of their standard
counterparts for effects of other actions.
1 – VOTER SUPPRESSION (VS)
This action works like movement, but at the end of your
movement, remove a number of voters equal to the gray
number. If there is a plane icon, move to a city and then
remove the number of voters as indicated.
2 – FLIP CONTRIBUTORS (FC)
This action lets you pick ONE party and take that much
money from them.
3 – SWAY MINDS (SM)
This action lets you remove the indicated number of
registered voters from ONE party and then gain that same
number of registered voters from your supply of undecided
voters.
4 – MUDSLINGING (Ms)
This action will take voters off of the board. Under each
mudslinging action are some issue icons. For each issue you
want to mudsling in, you must pay 2 of your committed
voters (to the undecided supply) from your ethically-
minded states.
For each issue you pay for, remove 2 committed voters
(from any party) from EACH state showing that issue and
return them to the undecided supply.
5 – SMEAR CAMPAIGN (SC)
This action will take voters off of the board. Under each
smear campaign action are some states. These are the
states that you will remove voters from. To perform this
action, you must perform the following:
1.) Your candidate MUST be in one of the listed states.
2.) You MUST discard 4 voters from your ethically-minded
states.
3.) You may remove up to 8 voters from any party from the
states shown and return them to the undecided supply.
6 – DIRTY TRICKS (DT)
There are two types of these – Instant and Ongoing. There
are no Response Dirty Trick actions. To take this action,
simply carry out the text on the card.
DEBATE
At the end of August and September, there will be a debate.
When the last card of these decks is drawn, finish out the
round, drawing from the next month’s deck to refill hands.
In a 4-6p game, only the VPs will take part in the first
debate. Only the Presidents take part in the second debate.
In the 2-3p game, the Presidents take part in both. In the
5p game, the solo player takes part in both.
1 – Reset Turn Order
Reset turn order based on current party Electoral College
track. All players participating in the debate move their
candidate (for free) to the city where the debate is being
held as shown on the debate city marker. If any
Unprepared or Debate Prep politick actions have been
played, resolve them now.
2 – Debate Rounds
Debates will last 3 rounds. Each player, in the new turn
order, will play a card with AT LEAST one of the issue icons
on it. If they do not have a card with one of the active
issues, they MUST pass, but can jump back in if someone
plays a “rabbit trail” that they have.
Move the issue one space for every icon on the played card
one space towards your party. If there are any icons on the
card that are not currently in the debate (rabbit trail), add
them to the debate and move them as well!
3 – Voter Reaction
At the end of the three rounds, starting with the first player
and going in turn order, each player that participated in the
debate, places UNDECIDED voters based on where the issue
is on their track in EACH state with that icon, adjusting the
Electoral College as needed.
After each player has placed their voters, refresh hands to 5
cards.
ELECTION DAY
When the last October card is drawn, finish out the round
so everyone gets the same number of turns. Do NOT
refresh hands when the October deck is empty.
At the end of the round, resolve and “End of Game” politick
actions in TURN ORDER.
Most Electoral votes wins. If there is a tie, the party with
the most total STATES is the winner.
Check Runoff Election in rules for ties with 3 parties.