POLITRACES is a board game that give you the opportunity to feel like a participant in a real Political Races and prove to others that you deserve to get the Power and become the President!
STANDARD RULES OF THE POLITRACES GAME
business board game for 3-8 players, age 8+
The Goals of the Game
1. Become President - 1st place. It is necessary to pay a fee for participation in the Elections, go to the Small Circle and win the Elections by collecting the most Votes.
2. Become Prime Minister (or Secretary of State) - 2nd place. The President decides who will take this position.
3. Become Oligarch (1) - 3rd place. It is necessary to buy the Institution Oil Derrick. Oligarch has the right to give or exchange their Votes (but not to sell to the Treasury), however they can`t go to the Small Circle and become the President. If the President gives the Oligarch the 2nd place, then they share the 1st place.
-1) Possible if more than 4 players are playing (see the Institution Oil Derrick).
The remaining players take their places according to the number of collected Votes.
It is useful for players to choose the strategy, for example:
- collect resources and Votes to pay the Elections fee and try to become the President;
- collect resources to transfer them to your Candidate for Presidency and increase their chances of winning;
- collect resources to buy an Oil Derrick (if available) and become an Oligarch.
Execution of agreements depends on the wishes of the players.
Сoncept of the Game
All people who strive for power are conventionally divided into four categories that have different, but equal resources, forming the Political Quadrant©:
- Businesspersons (entrepreneurs) - have money or other resources which can be quickly sold;
- Activists (popular people) - know how to gather, motivate and encourage other people to act;
- Public Officials (civil servants) - have connections and authority;
- Experts (smart people) - have special knowledge and status.
To get the Power (win the Game) players need to collect all the specified resources and get voters Votes.
Gameplay
1. Game preparation
The players, who sit in a circle (1), lay the Playing Field (2) (game board) in the center.
The Chance and Debate cards are shuffled and laid out face down on the specially marked places.
Players choose who of them will be the Treasurer, i.e. responsible for the Treasury (3) (game bank), which is placed at the bottom of the Game Box, which contains cards, chips and others).
-1) Participants play clockwise in the order they originally sit down to play (until the end of the Game).
2) The Playing Field consists of 4 sectors and 2 circles which divided into cells.
Sectors. The Game has 4 color sectors, which correspond to certain resources in the form of chips: Businessperson (green color, Money resource), Activist (purple color, People resource), Public Official (red color, Connections resource), Expert (blue color, Knowledge resource). Each sector consists of seven cells. In each of the sectors there is a START cell with which the Game begins. Having passed the sector cells, the player goes (down) to the Big Circle and plays there (the exception - Go to Another Sector cell). Players may get back to the sectors thanks to the Crisis cells or some of the Chance cards.
The Big Circle is Political Races. It consists of 24 cells. There are also 2 freestanding cells: Jail and Resort.
The Small Circle is Elections. Located in the center of the Playing Field and consists of 6 cells.
3) In the Treasury any 2 resources (same or different) may be exchanged for any other 1 resource or a Vote, but the Votes cannot be sold to the Treasury (except for special game situations). Exchange in the Treasury can be made only at the time of the player`s turn. The Treasury does not give loans, advances, does not accept Real Estate as collateral, etc. Stealing from the Treasury is prohibited.
2. Starting the Game, the first move, next moves
At this stage, players will move between sectors and the Big Circle. To determine who will make the first move each player will throw the Dice one time. The Player, who has the highest number (1) on the Dice, becomes the First Player, selects a pawn (game chip) and puts it on the START of any sector of their choice (2). The remaining players take turns, going around the board clockwise from the First Player by selecting their pawns and putting them on the following START (3) cells.
The Treasurer distributes to each player 5 chips of their basic resources and 2 chips of each remaining resource (4).
For each turn started in a Big or Small Circle, players will receive 1 of their basic resource (5) until the end of the Game from the Treasury (passive income), even when the Elections are announced (except for a situation when a player stays on the Jail cell).
The First Player rolls the playing Dice (with 6 faces) once and moves forward the number of cells indicated on the Dice clockwise.
Once on some cell, the player is obliged to perform the action that is indicated there (only once, when they gets on the cell).
When the Dice is pictured - this means that the player need to roll the Dice to determine what event will occur (the special conditions for the Institution Police).
When some resource or Vote chip is pictured - this means the corresponding resource or Vote chip.
Also, before the end of their move, players have the right to interact with other players and do operations (6).
When the player has completed all the actions, they announces the end of their move (themself).
All next players, clockwise, do the same actions as the First Player.
It is important to be attentive and keep an eye on other players. If someone did something forbidden during the Game (for example, made a move when it should be skipped) or forgot to do something (for example, to get their basic resource), but the player’s move is already over, then the Game continues without correcting the situation (except for situations such as moving someone else’s pawn).
Players are not allowed to combine their resources and/or Votes.
What is not prohibited is allowed in the Game. This means that players may freely interpret game situations (rules) and make non-standard decisions.
Players can speed up the Game by reducing the Election participation fee, announcing early Elections (counting Votes), limit the time of the players moves using the hourglass or making more Debates (see Debates in the Description of the Game Cells).
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1) If several players have the same highest number (for example, 6:6), these players will roll the Dice again.
2) There are 4 START cells in the Game in four equivalent sectors, where you may start the Game. This determines the basic resources and right to immunity of the players: Businessperson (green color, Money resource, immunity from the Business Center and Hotel), Activist (purple color, People resource, immunity from the Union of Activists and Society for the Ecology Protection), Public Official (red color, Communications resource, immunity from the Police and Tax Inspection), Expert (blue color, Knowledge resource, immunity from the Institute of Expertise and Academy).
3) If there are more than 4 players, the placement of pawns continues in the second round. That is, the fifth player puts their pawn on the same START cell, on which the First Player pawn stands. And so on.
4) Resources (i.e. game currency). After placing the players pawns, each player receives from the Treasury 5 resources of the sector in which they started the Game (the basic resource), as well as 2 resources from the other sectors.
For example, a player on the START of the Businessperson sector (green color) will receive 5 chips of Money, 2 of People, 2 chips of Connections and 2 chips of Knowledge.
5) If during the Game some player gets into another sector, they still continues to receive their basic resource, which they initially received.
For example, the player started the Game in the Businessperson sector and its basic resource is Money, and then they got into the Public Official sector, but they still remains a Businessperson until the end of the Game and receives one Money as basic resource.
6) Operations. Players can perform any operations that do not violate the Rules of the Game (contacting other players, exchanging or selling their resources and Real Estate, using Chance cards, etc.), but only during their turn. If some player misses a move, they cannot perform operations (exception - the Resort cell).
Resources and Real Estate (except the Oil Derrick) can be freely disposed of (exchanged or sold), while Votes are not (exceptions - see the Oligarch description and the Political Party cell).
Presents. During their turn, players may make or accept gifts: resources, Real Estate, Chance cards.
Out of resources. If the player does not have resources (or Votes) for payment (to another player or to the Treasury) - they must purchase necessary ones (in the Treasury or from other players). If resources are still insufficient, the player must sell their Real Estate (if available). If the player does not have resources or Real Estate for payment, they may either pay 1 Vote to the Treasury (even if they has to pay another player), or go to the Jail for 1 move (except for the Candidate for Presidency).
3. The Small Circle, Election of the President, the end of the Game
To get to the Small Circle, it is necessary to pay a participation fee to the Treasury - 10 of each resources (1) and it is also necessary to have 10 Votes (which remain in the player’s hands).
The player can go to the Small Circle only at the begin