Bleeding Kansas

About this board game

Bleeding Kansas is a two-player game of political influence and violence in pre-statehood Kansas, with an approximately 180-minute play time. Released in 2019, it places both players in charge of rival factions competing to control the territory.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 introduced “popular sovereignty,” allowing residents to decide whether Kansas would permit slavery. Sponsored abolitionists and pro-slavers soon streamed into the territory, where rival legislatures, fraud, armed clashes, and bushwhacks turned the struggle into a conflict that lasted until Kansas achieved statehood in January 1861.

The heart of Bleeding Kansas is its card system. Every card represents an important event, person, or factor in the conflict and provides associated actions. Players alternate playing cards, with each decision helping shape both the contest and its unfolding historical narrative.

• Influence settlers and encourage migration
• Build forces and move friendly forces
• Control counties and sway politics
• Disrupt or attack opposing forces
• Burn or rebuild towns
• Request Federal intervention

The order in which cards are played can determine the outcome, creating a changing story of political maneuvering and frontier violence. Each faction must decide how to use its opportunities as the struggle for Kansas intensifies.

Take charge of your faction and fight for control of the territory. In Bleeding Kansas, the path to victory runs through settlers, counties, forces, towns, politics, and the decisive sequence of cards.