1960: The Making of the President

2007

Embark on a strategic journey in '1960: The Making of the President' board game. Experience the pivotal Kennedy-Nixon election, balancing issues and electoral votes.

120
minutes

2 - 2
player(s)

12+

Medium Heavy

About the game

‘1960: The Making of the President’ is a thrilling and immersive board game that takes players back in time to one of the most significant and closely contested presidential elections in American history. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the dawn of the Space Age, this game offers players the unique opportunity to step into the shoes of the two contenders: Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

The goal of the game is to secure the presidency by winning the majority of the Electoral College votes. As players traverse the map of the United States, they must strategically manage resources, build public support, sway undecided voters, and tackle key issues of the time.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

‘1960: The Making of the President’ is a richly thematic board game that offers an immersive experience into the US presidential elections of the said year. The game includes a number of components, each having a specific role and interaction with the gameplay.

1. The Game Board:

The game board is a map of the United States divided into states and regions. Players move their candidate tokens around this board to campaign, seek endorsements, and gain electoral votes. The game board also includes a momentum track and an issues track to keep track of the current political climate.

2. Candidate Tokens:

The game includes two candidate tokens, one for each player, representing John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. These tokens move around the game board, indicating the candidate’s presence in a particular state or region.

3. State Seal Tokens:

Each state on the board has a corresponding state seal token. Players win these tokens by gaining the majority of electoral votes in the respective state. Obtaining these tokens is crucial for winning the game.

4. Campaign Cards:

These cards represent various events, endorsements, and actions that can happen during a campaign. Players draw and play these cards to gain advantages like moving their candidate, gaining momentum, or influencing issues.

5. Electoral Vote Tokens:

Electoral vote tokens represent the electoral votes of each state. Players compete to win these tokens by campaigning and influencing voters. The player with the most electoral vote tokens at the end of the game wins.

6. Momentum Tokens:

Players earn momentum tokens by winning debates and successful campaigning. These tokens can be used to sway issues in the player’s favor or to perform powerful actions.

7. Issue Tokens:

Three issue tokens – Defense, Economy, and Civil Rights – represent the key issues of the election. Players compete to control these issues, which provides them with various advantages.

8. Endorsement Tokens:

These tokens represent endorsements from influential groups or individuals. Players can gain these endorsements through certain campaign cards and use them to gain electoral votes in certain states.

9. Debate Tokens:

These tokens are used during the debate phase of the game. Players use these tokens to argue on different issues, and the player who makes the most compelling arguments wins the debate and gains momentum.

10. Media Support Tokens:

These tokens represent the support of the media. Players can gain these tokens by playing certain campaign cards, and they can be used to influence voters and sway issues in the player’s favor.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

‘1960: The Making of the President’ is a board game that simulates the 1960 U.S. Presidential Election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Here, I will guide you through the initial setup process.

Step 1: Player Roles:

Decide who will play as Richard Nixon and who will play as John F. Kennedy. Each player should take their respective candidate cards.

Step 2: Board Placement:

Place the game board in the center of the play area. The board represents a map of the United States, divided into states and regions. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes, represented by stars.
Ensure that the Campaign Strategy Cards and Momentum Markers are placed beside the game board within reach of both players.

Step 3: Initial Resources:

Each player starts with a set number of Campaign Points. Nixon starts with 9, and Kennedy starts with 7. These are represented by the cubes of the player’s color.
Each player should place their cubes in the numbered spaces on their Campaign Strategy Cards to indicate their current points.

Step 4: Initial State Support:

Each player places one of their cubes in each state of their home region (Nixon in the West, Kennedy in the East). This represents their initial state support.

Step 5: Dealing of the Cards:

Shuffle the deck of Campaign Cards and deal each player a hand of five cards. These cards can be used for event effects or campaign points, which are used to increase state support and issue support.

Step 6: Random Elements:

Place the rest of the Campaign Cards in a pile next to the board. These will be drawn from throughout the game.
Shuffle the Issue Tiles and place them randomly on the three issue spaces on the board. The topmost issue will be the most important at the start of the game.

Once these steps are completed, you’re ready to start the game. Good luck, and may the best candidate win!

Game flow Round and round we go

1960: The Making of the President is a board game that simulates the 1960 United States presidential election. The players take on the roles of the candidates, with one player representing Richard Nixon and the other representing John F. Kennedy. The aim of the game is to secure enough Electoral College votes to win the election.

The game is divided into nine rounds, each representing one week in the election campaign. Each round is structured into several phases, where players take various actions to secure momentum, endorsements, and issue support.

The Structure of a Round:

Initiative Phase: In this phase, each player draws campaign cards, and then the player with the most momentum markers decides who goes first in the round.
Campaign Strategy Phase: Players select a campaign strategy by placing a card from their hand face down in their campaign strategy box.
Campaigning Phase: Players take turns playing campaign cards from their hands, using either the events or the campaign points.
- Event: The player can trigger the event on the card, which can have a variety of effects.
- Campaign Points: The player can use campaign points to gain state support, media support, or issue support.
Momentum Phase: Players compare issue support, and the player with the most support on each issue gains a momentum marker.
Debate Phase: In rounds 4, 5, and 6, a debate is held. Players play cards representing their candidate’s arguments, with the aim of winning the debate and gaining state support.
Election Day Phase: In the final round, players reveal their campaign strategies and resolve endgame events. The player with the majority of electoral votes from the states they control is the winner.

The game continues to move through these phases, with players making strategic decisions to secure the most electoral votes. The game ends after the Election Day Phase in the 9th round, and the player who has won the most electoral votes is declared the winner.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In 1960: The Making of the President, a player’s turn is filled with strategic choices and a myriad of possible actions. Here is a breakdown of what can happen during a player’s turn.

1. Draw Cards:

The first action on a player’s turn is to draw cards from the campaign deck. These cards will form the player’s hand for this turn. The number of cards drawn depends on the current phase of the game.

2. Play a Card:

A player can then choose to play a card from their hand. There are three main ways to use a card:

Event: The card is played for its event. The event on the card is carried out as described. This can involve gaining or losing support, moving the candidate, or other effects.
Campaign Points: The card is played for its campaign points. These points can be used to travel, advertise, or increase support in the states.
Endorsement: The card is discarded to gain an endorsement. This can have a large impact on the final vote.

3. Check Momentum:

After playing a card, the player checks if they have any momentum markers. If they do, they can spend them to trigger the event on a card that was played for campaign points.

4. Rest:

A player can choose to rest instead of playing a card. This allows the player to draw more cards on their next turn, but it also gives their opponent an opportunity to make progress.

5. End of Turn:

When a player has played all the cards they wish to or cannot play any more, their turn ends. Any unspent campaign points are lost.

Each turn in 1960: The Making of the President is a balancing act of managing resources, planning for future turns, and responding to the changing game state. The choices a player makes can greatly affect the outcome of the game.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

1960: The Making of the President is an engaging board game that emulates the groundbreaking presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. The game concludes after the completion of the ninth round, representing the final week of the campaign. At this point, the players must count their Electoral Votes to determine the winner.

Before the final scoring, players must take certain actions. These include:

Emptying the Political Capital Bag: After the ninth round, players must empty the bag containing all the cubes (representing political capital) onto the table. This action symbolizes the final push of the campaign, where all resources are expended.
Endorsing Issues: Players then have a last chance to endorse issues. They can spend their Momentum Markers to endorse issues, gaining additional state support for the final count.

Following these actions, victory conditions are assessed. The victory conditions for ‘1960: The Making of the President’ are:

Electoral Majority: The primary victory condition is achieving a majority of Electoral Votes. A player wins immediately if they secure 270 or more Electoral Votes.
Electoral Tie: In the event of an Electoral Vote tie, the player who won the popular vote (indicated by the most cubes in the States) wins the game.
Contingent Election: If both the Electoral Vote and Popular Vote result in a tie, the game goes into a Contingent Election. In this scenario, each player adds the cubes in their Candidate Card’s Issue Track to the cubes in the States they control. The player with the most cubes wins the election.

In ‘1960: The Making of the President’, the player who best utilizes their resources and strategy to gain the most Electoral Votes is declared the winner, echoing the real-world intricacies of a presidential election.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In ‘1960: The Making of the President’, the scoring system is primarily based on the election night phase of the game.

Scoring Points

During the game, players earn points based on the number of electoral votes their candidate has won. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Electoral Votes: Each state in the game has a certain number of electoral votes, indicated on the game board. When a player wins a state, they receive the number of electoral votes for that state.
Media Support: At the end of each round, players earn additional electoral votes based on their media support in each region. The player with the most media support in a region receives the electoral votes for that region.
Endorsements: Players can also earn endorsement markers throughout the game. Each endorsement marker is worth one electoral vote.

End of Game Scoring

The game ends after the election night phase. Players count up the number of electoral votes they have won, and the player with the most votes is declared the winner.

Tie-Breaking Rules

In the event of a tie, the following rules are used to determine the winner:

The player with the most state support cubes on the board wins.
If there is still a tie, the player with the most endorsement markers wins.
If there is still a tie, the player with the most momentum markers wins.
If there is still a tie, the player with the most rest cubes wins.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

There are several special rules and exceptions in the board game ‘1960: The Making of the President’ that players should be aware of. Understanding these rules can significantly impact the strategy and outcome of the game.

1. Candidate Tokens:

Normally, when a player chooses to campaign, they can place up to four cubes in a state. However, if the player’s candidate token is in that state, they can place an additional cube, for a total of five. This ability highlights the importance of strategic positioning of candidate tokens on the game board.

2. Momentum Markers:

These markers can be used to ignore the effects of certain event cards, but their usage needs to be declared before the event card is played. It’s essential to remember that the effect of the event card is entirely negated, not just partially.

3. Endorsement Markers:

These markers can be moved to any region during the Endorsement Phase, not just the region where they are currently located. However, once moved, they cannot be moved again until the next Endorsement Phase.

4. The Final Week:

The final week of the game has special rules for rest cubes. During this time, any rest cubes placed on cards in a player’s discard pile can be moved to their candidate card, effectively providing additional campaign points for the final push.

5. The Debate Phase:

During the debate phase, players do not draw event cards. Instead, they use the cards they have previously set aside in their debate pile.
Each issue in the debate has a winner and a loser. The player who wins an issue places one of their cubes on that issue’s spot on the board. If a player loses an issue, they remove one of their cubes from it.
If a player wins all three issues in a debate, they gain a momentum marker.

6. The Election Day Phase:

This phase has a unique set of rules that differ from the rest of the game. During this phase, players draw state cards and add cubes to the states indicated on the cards. However, if a player has an endorsement in the region where a state is located, they add an additional cube to that state. Furthermore, each player’s largest group of connected states, known as their “electoral block,” earns them additional cubes equal to the number of states in the block.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

The game ‘1960: The Making of the President’ is a strategy-based board game that simulates the historical 1960 U.S presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. As a player, your strategic decisions can significantly impact the outcome of the game. Here are some advanced strategies, beginner tips, common mistakes to avoid, and ways to optimize gameplay.

Advanced Strategies

Focusing on crucial states: Concentrate on states that have a high electoral value, such as California, New York, and Texas. Winning these states can give you a significant lead.

Issue management: Always try to control at least two issues. This gives you the opportunity to draw extra cubes during the campaign strategy phase, putting you at an advantage.

Beginner Tips

Start Small: If you’re new to the game, start by focusing on smaller, less competitive states. This allows you to build a solid base of electoral votes.

Utilize the Media: Don’t ignore the power of the media. Having media control in a region can help sway states in your favor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Ignoring the Debates: Many new players overlook the importance of debates. However, they can be a game changer, allowing you to sway undecided states in your favor.

Spending all your CPs: Try not to spend all your Campaign Points (CPs) in a single turn. It’s essential to save some for later turns to maintain flexibility in your strategy.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay

Manage resources wisely: Efficient management of resources, particularly momentum markers and endorsement cards, can give you a significant advantage in the game.
Plan ahead: Have a clear strategy from the beginning and plan a few turns ahead. This will help you react better to your opponent’s moves.
Keep an eye on your opponent: Always keep track of your opponent’s resources and strategy. This will help you anticipate their moves and plan your counter-strategies effectively.