Policy Cards & Vote Cubes: Draft
If you haven’t read part 1 please go back and read it.
In The Poll, players use policy cards to build manifestos to solve the problems of the constituencies they are contesting for. A manifesto consists of one core policy [that is assigned to the colour you pick] and four policies [that you choose over a period of time].
When it comes to usage and functions, a core policy is no different from a policy card. What differentiates a core policy from a regular policy is that it cannot be traded in, exchanged or removed.
Each box contains 4 core policy cards, one for each player. These are tied to the cube colours they select.
What a Manifesto should look like
Structure of policy cards
Constituency cards are the problem cards and the solution to their problems are found in ‘policy cards’. All Policy Cards have the same structure:
Drafting a Manifesto:
The process of drafting the manifesto lasts 4 minutes or 4 turns of the timer in each round. After the four minutes, the player must have selected the four policy cards that they believe best solve the maximum number of issues on the board.
If the constituency cards are the problem cards, the policy cards are the solutions
After selecting the best and most appropriate cards, players must forward/pass/exchange the remaining cards that they have to the player on the left. This exchange happens every minute.
The drafting process begins when one player:
1) Deals out 8 cards to each player
Turn the timer or start a clock for one minute.
Within this time, select 2 out of the 8 policies that are with you and pass the remaining 6 to the player on your left!
How do you select the right policy?
It’s a simple case of match the following:
In the hand dealt to each player, they will find that some policies solve the issues on the board directly while others solve a host of issues some directly and others indirectly. A direct link is where the title and keywords of the policy card match the wording and/or solve the core problem of the issues.
In the example above, Sikkim has a problem of tensions rising along the border. The ‘Stronger Borders’ policy offers a direct solution to the issue and if this card appears in a players hand it would be advisable to select it. However another strategy could be to find solutions that cut across constituencies.
Remember you can only use one policy as a solution for one issue on a constituency, but the same issue can be used on similar issues across constituencies
The idea is that policies can address issues on the ground and we want players to find and select the best ones as they build up their manifesto!
Except on a National issue card
A national issue must be solved comprehensively! You must use 3 policies together to solve the issue addressing as many of its fallouts and related issues.
The limit of the total number of policy cards each player can hold at any given time is 4. If you have more pass them on! NO HOARDING!
PASS, PASS, PASS
Now that the minute is done, each player has selected two and must pass the remaining six to the player on the left.
Select Again
Now the players have been handed six cards, correct? Recall that a manifesto is CORE + 4 policies. Out of these 6, you can pick anywhere between 1 and 4. If a player ends up selecting more than 2 in this hand, they must replace one or both cards selected from the previous round.
The limit of selecting policies is lifted — however the limit of policy cards that a player can hold is 4, NO MORE. K?
PASS, PASS, PASS
Now that the minute is done, each player has selected two they must pass the remaining six to the player on the left.
2 PASSES DONE, 2 TO GO
At this point, players are either happy with their manifesto or are hoping better cards should come their way. Again, As a fresh set of 4 cards come to each player, a set of 4 cards must be passed on to the next player.
Repeat: if you find a better policy in the hand passed to you please pick it, but remove and replace it from your hand if you have reached the limit of 4 policies.
PASS, PASS, PASS
Now that the minute is done, each player has selected two they must pass the remaining six to the player on the left.
ALL PASSES DONE
At this point, players are either happy with their manifesto or are hoping better cards should come their way. Again now as a fresh set of 4 cards come to each player, a set of 4 cards must be passed on to the next player.
Repeat: if you find a better policy in the hand passed to you please pick it, but remove and replace it from your hand if you have reached the limit of 4 policies.
Please collect all the policy cards, shuffle them and put them back on the central board.
In Round 2:
One policy from your manifesto from round 1 is locked and cannot be exchanged. It assumes the role of a second core policy. Remove the remaining cards, and shuffle them back into the deck. Now one player deals 6 policy cards to each player.
The process begins again exactly like before.
Select 2 policy cards and pass on four and in the second exchange players can exchange as many, but must pass on 3 cards at the end of the minute to the player on the left.
So on and So Forth
