Casse-toi Pov'con!
Casse-toi Pov'con! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 8 Candidate cards
- 1 Marine card
- 52 Crowd cards (Bain de foule)
- 2 Popularity Track cards (Cote de popularité)
- 8 Candidate tokens
- 1 Summary card
- 1 rulebook
Goal
Be the most popular candidate while keeping an eye on the rise of the Front National.
Setup
- Place the two Popularity Track cards one above the other so that they form the poll curve.
- Give each player:
- one Candidate card, which they place face up in front of them;
- the matching Candidate token, which they place on the "start" space of the Popularity Track, below the yellow line.
- If 2 players belong to the same party (same colour), they each advance their token one space on the Popularity Track.
- Place the Marine card facing the last space of the Popularity Track.
- Shuffle the Crowd cards and spread them face down on the table. Take up as much room as possible so that as many cards as possible are reachable.
How to Play
The game is played over several rounds, each one a risky crowd walk that tests the nerves of the candidates.
At the end of each crowd walk, the popularity of the candidates changes:
- It goes up if the candidate has shaken many hands and met many journalists.
- It goes down if the candidate cracked and insulted the crowd.
Round Sequence
- All players act simultaneously: one player gives the starting signal and everyone dives into the crowd.
- All players search through the Crowd cards in the centre of the table without turning them over. The aim is to find the Crowd cards that are most advantageous for their candidate.
Each Candidate card shows 6 voters who react, depending on the case, with sympathy, indifference or rejection. The first two are positive reactions to the candidate, but the candidate must avoid the other voters; the one furthest to the right is the candidate's worst nightmare.
Example: Nicolas likes to run into the rich old lady or the boss... but must avoid the bobo and the trade unionist.
When a player thinks they have found a good card:
- They take it and turn it over immediately. On the back of the card they find its stress value for their political camp (the colour of their card).
- They then slide it under their Candidate card so that only the part in their colour is visible. The stress level of the politician can be seen rising as cards are added.
Any card that has been turned over must be kept!
Example: Nicolas thinks he has found an interesting card that includes his two favourite voters. He takes it, turns it over and finds that he made a good pick: on the blue part of the card he finds 0 stress! François or Jean could also have taken this card, since it only inflicts 2 stress on them... but the other two political camps would have made a mistake by choosing it.
Marine
Some generally advantageous cards hide Marine. These cards can be taken like any other, but playing along with the Front National will not be without consequences!
When a player turns over a card showing Marine, they must immediately announce it to the other players with a sentence of their choice (for example, "Let's block Marine" or "Marine is landing"). Marine is shown in the 4 corners of the back of the card.
A player who forgot to announce Marine during the round loses 1 popularity point at the end of the round.
End of a Round
As soon as a player has 8 stress points (or more) above their Candidate card, they crack and let out a liberating "Casse-toi pov' con!" (the game's catchphrase, a rough equivalent of "Get lost, you idiot!") to the crowd. The round ends immediately! That player moves their token down one space on the Popularity Track, and everyone counts their points.
Special case: if all players have drawn at least 4 cards and no player wants to draw any more, the round may end by common agreement.
Scoring: the Rule of 4
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Every player who has at least 4 cards above their Candidate card gains 1 popularity point.
-
Every player who has all 4 different journalists gains 1 popularity point.
There are 4 different journalists mixed into the crowd. They are shown in the 4 corners of the back of each card.
Marine counts as a joker: she replaces any one of them!
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Every player who has at least 4 stars on their cards gains 1 popularity point. (The stars are found on the cards where the candidates' favourite voters are.)
-
In addition, the player who has the most cards above their Candidate card gains 1 popularity point.
It is possible for several players to tie on a criterion. In that case, all the players concerned mark the number of points shown. These criteria are cumulative, so a maximum of 4 points can be scored at the end of a round.
Example of scoring: Christiane, Jean, Bruno and Cécile.
Christiane cracked! She insulted the crowd and loses 1 popularity point! Jean, too slow with only 2 cards, scores nothing. Bruno turned over 4 cards, so he gains 1 popularity point for that. Cécile makes the best move of the round, scoring 4 points: at least 4 cards, the 4 journalists, 4 stars, and the point for the player who turned over the most cards!
Marine's Progress
The more players have chosen her in their cards, the more she progresses.
| Number of players with one or more Marine cards | Number of spaces |
|---|---|
| Fewer than half of the players | 1 |
| Half of the players or more | 2 |
Not playing along with the Front National: if, at the end of a round, a player is the only one who did not play Marine, they gain 2 bonus points on the Popularity Track.
New Round
Once the candidates have been moved on the Popularity Track, the Crowd cards are returned to the centre of the table and thoroughly shuffled. A new round can then begin.
End of the Game
The game ends in any of the following 3 cases:
- If a player manages to go beyond the highest space of the Popularity Track, they win the game. If several players manage this at the same time, the one who scored the most points in that last round wins.
- If a player moves their token below the lowest space of the Popularity Track, they lose the game. Among the other players, the most popular one wins the game. In a tie, the one who scored the most points in that last round wins.
- If neither of the previous cases occurs and Marine goes beyond the highest space of the Popularity Track, ALL players lose the game and Marine is elected president! If a player goes beyond the highest space in the same turn as Marine, they go to a second round against her and win the election with a banana-republic score!