Game Setup

Follow these five steps before anyone rolls. The whole setup takes about five minutes.

Choose who starts first & game end criteria

The player whose birthday is closest to the Presidential Election Day goes first.

The default game end criteria is when the 36th state is won. On election night networks declare the victor when the 36th state (plus/minus a couple states) is called. Optionally you can choose a lower count criteria if you want to shorten the game.

Draw home states

Separate the Home State deck — all states with 8–18 electoral votes. Shuffle it. Starting with Player 1 and going clockwise, each player draws 4 cards and keeps 1 as their home state. Discard the 3 unchosen cards face-down back into the deck and reshuffle before the next player draws.

Choose swing states

Using the same process as home state selection, each player in turn also selects swing states, 4 in total. If there are three players, player 3 picks both the 3rd and 4th swing state.

Deal starting dollar hands

Shuffle the full dollar deck. Remove the $30M, $40M, and $50M cards before dealing, then deal 6 cards face-down to each player. Shuffle the removed high-denomination cards back into the remaining deck afterward.

Set aside 10 × $10M bills as the Stipend Bank — a separate pile, not refilled when empty. The Stipend Bank pays $10M to any player who initiates an auction but doesn't win it.

Deal campaign cards

Separate the 17 non-instant campaign cards from the deck. Shuffle them and deal 1 to each player face-down. Shuffle the remaining campaign cards (including the 6 instant cash cards) into one deck and place it face-down in the center.

• October Surprise ×3 — initiate an auction for any non-swing state owned by an opponent (not their home state). Winner pays the current owner.
• Recount ×2 — force a new auction for any opponent-owned state including swing states. Winner pays the current owner.
• Debate ×5 — all players compete in a trivia bracket for one unclaimed state.
• Open State ×4 — put any unclaimed state up for auction immediately. You choose which.
• Veto ×3 — block an auction for a state you own. That is your whole turn.

You're ready to play

Here's the full board you'll be campaigning across — every state shows its abbreviation, electoral votes, and a symbol unique to that state.

Player 1 rolls both dice to begin. On each turn: optionally play a campaign card, then roll d8 + d12 simultaneously, then choose one: use the d8 result, use the d12 result, or move your pawn 1–2 spaces to an unclaimed state and trigger an auction there.