President Maker

Here is an overview of how to set up, play, and end the game based on the rules provided (using a standard 4-player game structure as the baseline):

Game Setup

• Lay out the 5 regional boards in the center (placing Seoul-Gyeonggi in the middle and arranging the other four freely), and place the Vote Count Track nearby (p. 8).
• Randomly place 4 Political Orientation Cards face-up on the non-Seoul regional boards, and place 4 Priority Policy Cards face-up in the spaces between regional boards (p. 8).
• Place an Engagement Cube on the first space of each Regional Board's track (p. 8).
• Each player receives a random Candidate Card, matching color components (Political Cards, Campaign Rally Cards, Meeple, Support Cubes, Vote Tokens), places their Meeple on the starting space of the Vote Count Track, and places their 5 Support Cubes on the regional tracks according to the board orientations (p. 8).
• One player is chosen as the Ruling Party, receiving the First Player Marker and an extra Risk Card (p. 3, 14). All players shuffle their Political Cards and draw a starting hand of five cards (p. 3).

How a Round and Turn Works

The game is played over two rounds (p. 4). Each round proceeds through three consecutive phases:

1. Rally Phase:

   • Each candidate secretly selects 2 of their Campaign Rally Cards and reveals them simultaneously (p. 7).
   • Depending on whether one or multiple candidates visit a region, candidates advance their Support Cubes and the region's Engagement Cube accordingly (p. 7).

2. Political Action Phase:

   • Players take turns in order (Ruling Party, Opposition Party, Centrist Candidate, Independent Candidate) to play Political Cards from their hand (p. 7).
   • When playing a card, it resolves in order of Political Maneuver (taking Risk Cards or applying regional movement effects) followed by Policy (advancing support in Priority Regions or Seoul-Gyeonggi) (p. 5, 18, 21).
   • This phase ends after each player has played 3 Political Cards in total, followed by refilling hands to five cards (p. 5).

3. Media Phase:

   • Popularity reflection increases regional Engagement Cubes based on the number of Popular Politicians (p. 13).
   • Players reveal their Risk Cards, and the candidate(s) with the highest total risk move their Meeple back one space on the Vote Count Track (p. 13).

(Note: Between Round 1 and Round 2, a Presidential Poll phase is conducted where mid-campaign support tokens are drawn from a bag to award effects to leading candidates) (p. 4, 16, 17).

How the Game Ends

• After Round 2 and a Final Rally phase, the game concludes with the final Vote Count phase, which is conducted sequentially across all five regions starting clockwise from Seoul-Gyeonggi (p. 4, 12, 16).
• Vote Tokens corresponding to each candidate's Support Size (plus the Minor Candidate's token) are put into a bag, and tokens are drawn equal to the region's Engagement level to advance candidate Meeples along the Vote Count Track (p. 12).
• The game ends when the Vote Count for Seoul-Gyeonggi is complete, and the candidate furthest ahead on the Vote Count Track is elected president and wins the game (p. 10).