Campaigning
If you have not read part 1, part 2, and part 3 please go back and read them.
You have now learned how to draft an all-inclusive manifesto that addresses the needs of the constituencies being contested, defended them and heard others out using your vote wisely.
By now everyone has argued — either managing to keep their cubes on the board or not, but the number of cubes don’t add up to those required.
This is where campaigning kicks in.
Through Campaign cards you get to pay money and pick the best card that serves your purpose. In this phase, you spend money to add or remove cubes [of any one player] on any constituency of your choice.
During campaigning whosoever reaches the magic number of 5, 7 or 10 first wins up the constituency. Or at the end of campaigning has the maximum number of cubes on the board.
Much like real political parties, each player does this through Campaigning.
There are four different types of cards you will encounter during campaigning.
1: The Campaign Cards
Each player receives 6 campaign cards per round, divided by colour and the number of dots on the back. This number corresponds to which round the card belongs to, ranging from 1 to 5. Each campaign card has a cost, an effect, and a condition upon which it may be used.
Using Campaign Strategies
- A round ends after 4 days of campaigning
- Each day of campaigning lasts for 1 turn of the timer
- On each day of campaigning, a player may play one campaign card, pay the designated amount of money and target another player in case of a negative or illegal card.
- A player may only employ a campaign strategy on 1 constituency per turn
Actions of Campaigning
Each day of campaigning will have the same structure
1. Turn the timer
2. Select your card
Select the best card out of your hand
3. Select the constituency and choose whether you want to use media then place the card face-down
Within the minute each player/team must decide which constituency they want to focus their campaign on with intention of winning it. Players have selected the best card and decide in which constituency they will focus
4. Spend the Money
Place the money of the value of the card on the tracker on your player mat. The number that you place the money on and the number of the constituency on the mat must be the same.
If you played on constituency 1, then you must put the money on 1 on your mat
5. Reveal and Place cubes
All the players must then reveal their moves together and immediately place the number of cubes on the constituency
This process continues for 4 turns of the timer after which the election will come to an end and counting shall begin.
The campaign cards, money and cubes used in each round are discarded. All the remaining resources can be carried forward including the unused campaign cards.
Remember: The aim is to either hit the magic number (win condition) on the constituency, or maintain the greatest amount of influence at the end of four days of campaigning.
Step-By-Step Guide to Campaigning
STEP 1: Select the Constituency you want to focus on;
STEP 2: Select which campaign strategy you wish to employ. Be careful of the condition and cost!
STEP 3: Check the spending limit of the constituency and place the value listed on your chosen campaign card on the money tracker on your player mat;
STEP 4: Decide if you wish to use a Media card to complement your chosen strategy
STEP 5: Now, play your chosen card with or without the Media card face-down and wait till everyone else has played before revealing!
STEP 6: If and when appropriate, utilize the Election Commission, Corporate Finance and Change the Election cards to your benefit!
Over the course of the campaigning period, all players are free and encouraged to engage in dialogue with one another regarding potential alliances and agreements. The terms of these alliances are left to the players to determine.
In the event of a tie: Coalitions, Negotiations and Chicken
- Coalitions can be made [only after campaigning is done] to divide a constituency between two teams the terms are left to the players/teams
- All teams will get 2 minutes to settle any disputes
- If a coalition is not made and the two teams tied want to continue to fight they can use more resources — if the campaign cards of one phase are over then you can use cards of the next phase, but remember this is a risk. Until there is a clear winner.
2. Media Cards
Each political party gets 2 (free) Media Cards at the beginning of the game. The Media card is a booster card which, when used, either adds or removes 1 additional vote cube.
Media Cards therefore amplify the impact of both positive and negative campaign strategies.
Note: If a player runs out of Media Cards, they may buy additional ones for Rs 300 each
3. Election Commission
Each player receives 1 Election Commission card for the first 3 rounds, till resources reset in Round 4. In addition, there is 1 Election Commission card on the Central Board for common use.
The Election Commission card may be used to report electoral malpractice, such as horse trading, booth capturing, hate speech, black money etc.
4. Change the Election
These are risk cards and represent disruptive external events which may change the course of the election. There are 8 ‘Change The Election’ cards that may be picked up at any point by any player during campaigning, and come into effect immediately!
A player may only pick up a maximum of 2 ‘Change the Election’ cards throughout the course of a game
5. Corporate Finance
If a player is running out of money, they may drop a policy card from their manifesto and seek corporate financing, which will give them an additional Rs 1100 to spend. However, instead of 5 policies in their manifesto, they will be playing with 4 or 3.
Note: A player may not trade in their locked policies for corporate finance!
Begin Again
All the resources used in the round are discarded. All the money, the vote cubes and the campaign cards are gone. Unused resources including campaign cards are carried on to the next round.
