Campaign Trail: The Game of Presidential Elections

"Campaign Trail" redirects here. For the political concept, see Political campaign.
Campaign Trail: The Game of Presidential Elections
1984 cover art
Designers
    • Peter Andersen
    • William Snavely
GenresStrategy, Board game
Players2–6
Playing time60 minuites

Campaign Trail: The Game of Presidential Elections is a board game published in 1984 by Game Designers' Workshop.[1]

Gameplay

Campaign Trail is a game in which players run the campaigns for their candidates by collecting votes as they move their tokens around the board.[2] The Electoral College and random political endorsements are also part of the game and must be factored in to strategy.[3]

Reception and legacy

Alan R. Moon reviewed Campaign Trail for Games International magazine and stated, "I find this game a little boring and long to keep my interest."[2] Sid Sackson, writing for the magazine Games, thought it was "one of the most successful [games] in capturing the competitive fervour of the real thing [election season]".[4] The same magazine named it 9th in their top 100 games of 1984.[3]

A copy of this game is held in the collection of the Strong National Museum of Play (object 117.765).[5] The 2012 browser game The Campaign Trail, by Dan Bryan, was inspired by the board game.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Scanner: News from the World of SF Gaming". Space Gamer. No. 67. February 1984. p. 41.
  2. ^ a b Moon, Alan R. (March 1989). "Up the Poll". Games International. No. 3. p. 14.
  3. ^ a b Schmittberger, R. Wayne, ed. (November 1984). "The Games 100". Games. Vol. 8, no. 11. p. 21.
  4. ^ Sackson, Sid (May 1984). Schmittberger, R. Wayne (ed.). "Games & Books". Games. Vol. 8, no. 5. p. 52.
  5. ^ "Game:Campaign Trail The Game of Presidential Elections". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  6. ^ Sheehan, Jack (2024-09-29). "Election Day is in your control in the shocking Campaign Trail game". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-09-29.