The Spin Doctors Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the game
• Components
  • Board areas
• Setup
• Locality
• Vote and Turnout markers
• Before we begin
• Campaign Programme
• Round schema
• Start of the round
• Staff actions
  • Planning actions
  • Resolving actions
• Debate
  • Activity stacks resolution
  • Placing a Support token on a Topic card
  • Turnout change
  • Favourite's speech
• End of the round
  • Poll
  • Election
  • Example of scoring from Localities
  • Example of final scoring
• Media broadcast
• Turnout cards
• Individual voter traits
• Scandal card
• Communication
• Example first round
• Ready-made Staffs
• Score sheet

Goal of the game

Your goal is to bring your Candidate to victory in the Election. You will achieve this by gaining the largest number of Votes among voters from different groups, and by fulfilling the assumptions of your Campaign Programme.

Components

• Board
• Media board
• Rulebook and Staffer Actions collection
• 65 Staffers (13 cards for each colour)
• 5 Helper cards
• 20 Turnout cards
• 36 Topic cards
• 41 News cards
• 60 Campaign Programme cards (12 cards for each colour)
• Favourite marker
• 4 Turnout markers
• Round marker
• 70 Budget tokens
• 180 Support tokens (36 tokens for each colour)
• 20 Vote markers (4 markers for each colour)

Board areas

The board and media board are divided into numbered areas, with lettered fields:

1. Region area
   • A. Region name
   • B. Order of field resolution
   • C. Region field
2. Locality
   • D. Locality name
   • E. Locality votes
   • F. Turnout card field
   • G. Topic card field
   • H. Activity stack
3. Round counter
   • I. Poll marking
   • J. Election marking
   • K. Number of Staffers played in a given round
4. Topic card field
5. Players' Favourite pools
6. Media area
   • L. Media field
   • M. Field resolution order
   • N. Vote track
7. News track

Setup

1. Place the board where it is accessible to all players.
2. Place the media board next to the board.
3. Each player chooses a colour and takes:
   • 13 Staffers in their colour,
   • 12 Campaign Programme cards in their colour,
   • 30 Support tokens in their colour,
   • 5 Budget tokens with a value of 1 and 2 Budget tokens with a value of 5.
4. Place the remaining Budget tokens where they are accessible to all. These tokens form the Bank.
5. Each player places their Vote marker in their colour on the 0 field of each Vote track on the media board.
6. From the Turnout card deck, draw 10 cards and place them at random, one on each Turnout field on the board. Any remaining Turnout cards may be returned to the box.
7. Place the Turnout markers on the appropriate Vote tracks on the media board. To find the number of the field on which each marker goes, check in which Localities its icon appears on the Turnout cards. Then add together the highest Vote value of each of those Localities. The resulting value is the number of the field on which the marker should be placed.
   • If the Turnout markers are placed correctly, the sum of the values of all the fields on which they are placed will be 31.
8. Shuffle the Topic card deck. Draw 10 cards and place them at random, one on each Topic card field on the board. Place the rest of the deck as a stack on the Topic card deck field.
9. Shuffle the News card deck. Draw 3 cards and place them one each, back side up, on the Red News card fields on the media board. Place the rest of the deck as a stack on the News card deck field.
10. Place the round marker on field 1 of the Round counter.

Locality

A Locality is part of a Region. The elements that make up a Locality will often depend on one another. These elements are:

• A. Name.
• B. Votes offered by the Locality.
• C. Turnout card (indicating the voter group dominant in this Locality).
• D. Topic card.
• E. Activity stack.

Vote and Turnout markers

Carefully planned actions by election teams mean nothing if they do not ultimately translate into votes. In the end, it is the voters who decide which candidate becomes president and which falls into oblivion. Unfortunately, despite their enthusiasm, voters can be lazy and undisciplined. It is much easier for them to vote in online polls and surveys than to actually take part in the vote. That is why it is worth monitoring not only declared votes, but also the expected turnout of our supporters.

The media area contains 4 Vote tracks. Each of these tracks shows the Votes and Turnout of a specific voter group, and on each of them you will find two kinds of markers:

• Vote marker - each player has 1 marker in their colour on each Vote track. It represents the number of Votes the player has gained in that voter group. The number of Votes collected will decide the victory at the Election, but note that during the Election the Turnout marker sets a limit on the Votes that will actually be counted in our final scoring. Rules for the Vote marker:

  • Each player has 1 Vote marker on each Vote track. It represents the Votes gathered by that player in the given voter group.
  • There is no limit to the number of markers that may be on the same field.
  • A marker can never move below 0 or above 20. If any effect would move a Vote marker below 0, it stops on field 0. If any effect would move it above 20, it stops on field 20.
  • A Vote marker may be on a value higher than the Turnout marker.

• Turnout marker - there is 1 such marker on each Vote track. It represents the maximum number of Votes a player can receive during the Election (this means that if a player's Vote marker is on a field with a higher value than the Turnout marker, the player will in effect receive only as many Votes as the Turnout marker indicates). Rules for the Turnout marker:

  • During the game the Turnout marker will be moved as a result of various actions, but, like the Vote marker, it cannot reach a value higher than 20 or lower than 0.

EXAMPLE: At the Election BARTEK will receive 2 Votes from this Vote track, because that is what his Vote marker shows, while ANTEK will receive 3, because his Vote marker shows a higher value than the Turnout marker (which sets the maximum number of Votes counted in the player's score). The Turnout marker is on field 3, and that is exactly how many Votes ANTEK will receive.

Before we begin

Before the game proper begins, each player chooses their Staff and their Campaign Programme. For this, each player selects:

• 7 Staffers, including the Candidate (the Candidate is mandatory),
• 3 Campaign Programme cards.

The selected Campaign Programme cards accompany you until the end of the game, so choosing them carefully is very important. The order of the players does not matter here; prepare your Staffs and Programmes simultaneously, in secret.

• Each player places the selected Campaign Programme cards in front of themselves, back side up. These cards are the player's Campaign Programme.
• Each player holds the selected Staffer cards in hand. These cards are the player's Staff.

Tip: If this is your first game, we recommend reading the section "Campaign Programme" before you choose your Campaign Programme. If choosing a Staff is difficult, ready-made Staffs are suggested on page [24].

If you decide to choose your Staff yourself, it is worth including at least 1 Staffer with the Change Topic Action and at least 1 Staffer with the Change News Action. Although these Actions are not essential to the game, they will make your goals much easier to achieve.

When each of you has chosen your Staff and Campaign Programme, there is one more step:

• Going clockwise, starting from the player holding the Favourite marker, each player turns face up (front side up) one card from their Campaign Programme.

Example player area:

1. Campaign Programme:
   • A. Campaign Programme cards chosen by the player.
   • B. Campaign Programme card turned face up by the player.
2. Cards set aside:
   • C. Staffers.
   • D. Campaign Programme cards.
3. Budget tokens of the player.
4. Staff of the player (held in hand):
   • E. Staffers chosen by the player.
   • F. The player's Candidate (remember that the Candidate must be included in the Staff).

Campaign Programme

The Campaign Programme represents the Candidate's views on a given topic, but also their commitments. Sometimes the Candidate will want to speak out actively and take part in every issue connected with a given topic; sometimes, however, they will avoid the issue.

Example card layout (Campaign Programme card):

• A. Required number of Topic cards on the board.
• B. Votes that the player receives for fulfilling a given Campaign Programme card.
• C. Votes that the player loses if they fail to fulfil a given Campaign Programme card.

Rules of the Campaign Programme:

Campaign Programme cards refer to the Topic cards on the board. At the Election you will be settling accounts for their fulfilment.

Field A (required number of Topic cards on the board) shows how many Topic cards on the board you need in order to achieve your goals. It will always be either "3+" (3 or more) or "0-2" (no more than 2).

When you settle a given Campaign Programme card, check how many corresponding Topic cards are on the board (on the Topic card fields). If the number matches the condition shown on the Campaign Programme card, it means that the promise made to voters has been kept. In that case, the owner of the card receives as many additional Votes as the green field on the card suggests.

If the number does not match the condition shown on the card, it means the promise has not been kept. In that case, the owner of the card must subtract from their total Votes as many as the red field on the card suggests.

Examples:

• Example 1: Adam will fulfil the Economy card with the condition 3+ if, at the moment of the Election, at least 3 Economy Topic cards are on the Topic card fields on the board.
• Example 2: Adam will fulfil the Infrastructure card with the condition 0-2 if, at the moment of the Election, no more than 2 Infrastructure Topic cards are on the Topic card fields on the board.

Additionally, please remember the following rules:

• From the start of the game, each of you has 3 Campaign Programme cards (2 secret, 1 face up).
• When a Poll takes place, each of you must turn over (cover) the second Campaign Programme card (the player chooses which card to reveal).
• When an Election takes place, each of you must reveal the third Campaign Programme card.
• At the end of a Poll, each of you may exchange your face-down Campaign Programme card. Players may not reveal their face-down Campaign Programme cards except at moments when the rules clearly require it.
• Face-up Campaign Programme cards can no longer be turned face down or exchanged.
• When settling Campaign Programme cards, only the number of Topic cards on the board counts. Tokens held on Topic cards and News cards in the Media area have no bearing here.
• In your Campaign Programme you may hold any combination of 3 cards, even if the conditions printed on them contradict each other (although this strategy is not recommended).

Round schema

Each round is divided into four phases:

1. Start of the round: News update.
2. Staff actions: Action planning, resolution of actions.
3. Debate: Resolution of Activity stacks and selection of the Favourite; Turnout change; the Favourite's speech.
4. End of the round: Poll or Election.

Start of the round

The media are a powerful weapon, without which no election campaign can do without. Raising the right topic at the right time will allow you to drastically increase your reach.

Begin every round by introducing a new News card onto the media board. Do this in two steps:

1. Move all cards on the News card fields one field to the right, placing the last card on the discard pile if necessary. (When you place cards on the discard pile, turn them back side up. These cards will take no further part in the game. Each player may look through them at any time.) Turn face up the News card that has moved from a Red field to a Blue field.
2. Place the card lying on top of the News deck on the first Red field.

Staff actions

Regardless of the candidate's charisma and other qualities, no election campaign can succeed without a well-functioning campaign team: people whose actions shape its planning and course. It is the members of the staff who are responsible for direct contact with voters, for organising meetings with them, and for preparing campaign materials and distributing them. But when traditional methods fail, effective staffers can also reach for less obvious solutions. Not always in the spirit of "fair play".

Planning actions

During the Action Planning phase you will play Staffers one at a time, alternating, according to the following rules:

• Each player, going clockwise and starting from the player holding the Favourite marker, plays one Staffer. Repeat this process until each player has played exactly as many Staffers as the icon below the field of the current round on the Round counter suggests.
• The first Staffer played by each player must be the Candidate. Play the Candidate face up.
• Play the other Staffers face down.
• Play each Staffer onto one of the five Region fields or the Media field. (Note: the field on which a Staffer stands determines which of that Staffer's Actions may be used.)
• Any number of Staffers may stand on a single field.
• Each player may at any time look at the Staffers they have played, but may not look at Staffers played by other players.
• When every player has played as many Staffers as the icon on the Round counter suggests, the Action Planning phase ends. Turn all played Staffers face up and move on to the Action Resolution phase.

Note on this transcription: the rules refer to the descriptions of all Staffer Actions as an Appendix, the Staffer Actions collection. That collection is a separate document, and it is not contained in the rulebook PDF this text was transcribed from, so the individual Action texts are not reproduced here. The rulebook's own text, and the Action names used in the example round, are reproduced as printed.

Resolving actions

The Resolution of Actions is the moment when you decide on the actions of your Staffers. Follow these rules:

• Order of fields: first take the Field Order into account. Resolve each field in ascending order (from the Media field [1] to the Southern Region field [6]).
• Order of Staffers: resolve the actions of Staffers on the same field in the Staffer Order shown at the top of each card, from the Candidate [0] to the Youth Wing [12]. If two Staffers on the same field have the same Order (for example Antek's Authority and Bartek's Authority), the player holding the Favourite marker decides the order in which they are resolved.
• When a given Staffer is resolved, the player who played them decides on one of three actions:
  • Use a Basic Action: pay the Basic Action cost of this Staffer by returning to the Bank as many Budget points as the upper coin on the card shows. Then choose ONE of the available Basic Actions of this Staffer and carry it out where the Staffer stands. You may use a Region action only if the Staffer stands on a Region field. You may use a Media action only if the Staffer stands on the Media field. If you cannot pay the cost of a Basic Action, you cannot carry it out. Descriptions of all the available Actions are in the Appendix: the Staffer Actions collection.
  • Use a Special Action: pay the Special Action cost of this Staffer by returning to the Bank as many Budget points as the lower coin on the card shows. Then use the Regional Special Action if the Staffer stands on a Region field, or the Media Special Action if the Staffer stands on the Media field. If you cannot pay the cost of the Action, you cannot carry it out. Descriptions of all the Actions are in the Appendix: the Staffer Actions collection.
  • Decline the action: skip the resolution of this Staffer and pay no cost.
• After resolution, a Staffer remains on the field where they were played.
• When you have resolved all the played Staffers, return them to their owners' Staffs and proceed to the Debate.

Note!

Remember that Staffer Actions are divided into Region and Media Actions. If a Staffer stands on a Region field, they may use only Region Actions. If they stand on the Media field, they may use only Media Actions.

Both Basic and Special Actions of Staffers may be further divided into Green and Red (signalled by the background colour of the Action icon). Green Actions concentrate on positive effects and allow the player to build their position. Red Actions, on the other hand, relate to dirty politics and underhand moves. Most often these are Actions that allow you to attack one of the players directly, or to create additional confusion on the board. Some effects in the game may refer to Green or Red Actions.

Note: Most Staffers have either a Regional or a Media Special Action only, so they may use it only on the appropriate fields.

Debate

Actions taken by staffers not only bring concrete results to their teams, but also leave an impression on voters. Every engagement is significant for local communities, and no activity will go unnoticed. But only an appropriate scale can bring real benefits and decide a change in electoral moods.

Activity stacks resolution

Carrying out some Actions during play will involve placing Support tokens on Activity stacks. During this phase you will resolve these stacks. Follow the rules below:

• Each Activity stack is linked to one Locality (it is connected with the Topic card and the Turnout card in that Locality).
• Order: resolve the Activity stacks according to the Order of the Region fields (from the Northern Region [2] to the Southern Region [6]), and within each Region from left to right (so in the Northern Region the Activity stack of Szczecin comes first, then the Activity stack of the Tricity).
• While resolving a given Activity stack, resolve the players' Support tokens from the top of the stack to its base.
• During EVERY Debate, the FIRST Support token of each player MUST be moved onto a chosen field of the Topic card with which the stack being resolved is linked. (The exact rules for placing Support tokens on a Topic card are described on the next page.)
• If a player has already moved one token from the Activity stack being resolved onto the Topic card, the remaining tokens of that stack go into their Favourite pool.
• After all Activity stacks are resolved, check the players' Favourite pools. The player with the most tokens in their Favourite pool receives the Favourite marker.
  • In the event of a tie, the Favourite marker goes to the player who:
    • is among the tied, winning players,
    • does not hold the Favourite marker,
    • is closest, in clockwise order, to the player holding the Favourite marker.
  • This applies even if none of the players has tokens in their Favourite pool.
• After the Favourite pools have been resolved, proceed to the Favourite's speech.

Example of the Favourite pool:

1. ANTEK holds the Favourite marker. Each player has 3 Support tokens in their Favourite pools, so the Favourite marker passes to the nearest tied player after ANTEK.
2. ANIA receives the Favourite marker, because in clockwise order she is the nearest after ANTEK. If ANIA had fewer tokens in her pool, the Favourite marker would go to BARTEK, because ANIA would not be considered (she would not belong to the group of tied players).

Placing a Support token on a Topic card

Each Topic card has 2 kinds of fields on which you may place your token:

Red field - used to block a Topic card from being changed. The following rules apply to Red fields:

• A token is always placed on the lowest field. If the lowest field is occupied, move the token on it to the next higher field, and then place your own token on the lowest field.
• If all Red fields are occupied, placing a token on a Red field becomes impossible.
• When all Red fields on a Topic card are occupied, changing it becomes impossible (for example, the Change Topic Action cannot be used on this Topic card), unless the player whose Support tokens are on those fields agrees. (If the Topic card has several Red fields and they hold tokens of different players, changing the topic requires the unanimous consent of those players.)

Example: BARTEK, ANIA and ANTEK each have 1 Support token on the Activity stack and resolve it from the top.

1. BARTEK, as the first, moves his token onto a Red field.
2. ANIA also moves her token onto a Red field, pushing BARTEK's token. All Red fields are now occupied. From this moment on, any player who wants to change this Topic card will need the consent of BARTEK and ANIA.
3. ANTEK cannot place his token on a Red field (there are no free places left), so he places his token on a White field.

White field - gives the player additional Votes thanks to the Topic card. The following rules apply to White fields:

• A token is always placed on the lowest field. If the lowest field is occupied, move the token on it to a higher field or push it off the card, and then place your own token on the lowest field.
• If all White fields are occupied, decide which token to push off the card:
  • If you want to push off a token that lies lower down, remove it from the card and put your token in its place.
  • If you want to push off a token that lies higher up, remove it from the card, move the token lying below it into its place, and place your own on the lower field.
• A Support token pushed off the card must be discarded: it returns to the player's pool of Support tokens. Do not add it to the Favourite pool.
  • The owner of the token that was pushed off receives 1 Vote on the Vote track corresponding to the voter group dominant in that Locality (according to the Turnout card). Move their Vote marker on that track 1 point higher.

Note! This is the only way to receive Votes from a White field. If a player's token is removed from this field in another way (for example through the Change Topic Action or a Protest), that player receives no benefit from it.

TIP: A player may push their own token off a White field, in order to receive a Vote on the Vote track of the given voter group.

Example 1:

1. In the Family group ANIA has 1 Vote, BARTEK 3 Votes and ANTEK 5 Votes.
2. BARTEK, ANTEK and ANIA have their Support tokens in Wrocław, on the Activity stack that they are resolving.
3. The token of BARTEK is on top of the stack, so we resolve it first. BARTEK places his token on a White field.
4. The next in order is ANTEK's token. ANTEK decides to place his token on a White field, moving BARTEK's token to the higher field.
5. ANIA may place her token on a White or a Red field. She decides on the White field and moves ANTEK's token to the higher field. As a result of this action BARTEK's token is pushed off the card and discarded.
6. BARTEK's token was pushed off a White field, so he receives 1 Vote in the Family group (because the Turnout card in Wrocław shows that Families are the dominant voter group in this Locality).
7. One Support token of BARTEK's remains on the Activity stack. BARTEK cannot move it onto the card, because only the first Support token is moved onto the Topic card. This token of BARTEK goes to his Favourite pool.

Example 2:

1. In the Family group ANIA has 1 Vote, BARTEK 3 Votes and ANTEK 5 Votes.
2. BARTEK, ANTEK and ANIA have their Support tokens in Wrocław, on the Activity stack that they are resolving.
3. The token of BARTEK is on top of the stack, so we resolve it first. BARTEK places his token on a White field.
4. The next in order is ANTEK's token. ANTEK decides to place his token on a White field and, instead of moving BARTEK's token to the higher field, pushes it off the Topic card.
5. As a result BARTEK receives 1 Vote in the Family group (his token was pushed off a White field, and the Turnout card in Wrocław shows that Families are the dominant voter group there).
6. ANIA may place her token on a White or a Red field. She decides on the White field and moves ANTEK's token to the higher field.

Turnout change

We all know there are topics that matter and topics that matter even more. Undoubtedly the most important of these is Breaking News: a fresh, hot topic that is on everyone's lips. Some will speak about it in superlatives and even go to the polls, just to show how important the issue is to them. Others will criticise it and avoid it, to the point that their turnout falls. Remember that drawing attention to the right topic at the right moment can decide the fate of a vote.

During the Turnout change, consider the effect of the News card that lies on the Breaking News field (the last Blue field on the media board) on voter turnout. Do this as follows:

• Move the Turnout marker on the Vote track of the voter group shown on the card by the value shown on that card.
• If during the Turnout change the Breaking News field is empty or holds a Scandal card, skip this phase.

Example: The card shown in the illustration landed on the Breaking News field. The players lowered the turnout on the Family Vote track by 3 points (they moved the Family Turnout marker from 5 to 2).

Favourite's speech

The media always scrupulously follow public moods and gladly broadcast the opinions that the voters' favourite would like to express. And every appearance in the media is an opportunity not only to present oneself, but also to raise issues and topics that are inconvenient for rival candidates, including ruthless media attacks.

During the Favourite's speech, the player who received (or kept) the Favourite marker takes the floor on the News card that lies on the Breaking News field. The speech works on slightly different rules for a standard News card and for a Scandal card.

The Favourite's speech proceeds according to the following rules:

• The player holding the Favourite marker receives 1 Vote in the Voter Group shown on the News card on the Breaking News field.
• The player holding the Favourite marker may reduce by 1 or 2 the Votes of a chosen player in the Voter Group shown on the News card on the Breaking News field.
  • The player holding the Favourite marker may reduce Votes of no more than 1 player.
  • The player holding the Favourite marker may give up the option of reducing Votes.
• If there is no card on the Breaking News field, skip the Favourite's speech.

NOTE: If a Scandal card lies on the Breaking News field, the player holding the Favourite marker receives no Votes in any Voter Group. Instead of reducing the Votes of any player in the Voter Group shown on the card, the player holding the Favourite marker may reduce by 1-2 the Votes of the player concerned by the scandal, in any Voter Group.

Example: Favourite's speech under the normal rules:

ANTEK holds the Favourite marker. On the Breaking News field there is a News card with the Family icon, so ANTEK gains 1 Vote in the Family Group (moving his Vote marker from 11 to 12) and may reduce the Votes of a chosen player on the same Vote track. ANTEK decides to remove 2 Votes from BARTEK and moves his Vote marker from 7 to 5.

Example: Favourite's speech under the Scandal rules:

ANTEK holds the Favourite marker. On the Breaking News field there is a Scandal card in BARTEK's colour, so ANTEK may remove 2 Votes from BARTEK on any Vote track. ANTEK decides to remove 2 Votes from BARTEK on the Iron Electorate Vote track and moves his Vote marker from 7 to 5. As the player holding the Favourite marker, ANTEK receives no Votes in this case.

End of the round

The end of the round may proceed in 3 ways. When the Favourite's speech is finished, check whether a Poll or an Election takes place in the current round. These events are represented by the icons on the Round counter.

• Bar chart icon - a Poll takes place in this round.
• Ballot box icon - an Election takes place in this round.

A Poll always takes place at the end of the 3rd round. An Election takes place in round 6 (4-5 players) or round 7 (3 players), depending on the number of players.

Depending on which round you are playing, its end will be decided in one of three ways:

• Nothing happens - the field of the round being played contains no icons, or the number of players does not match the number shown on the Election icon. Nothing special happens in this round. Simply move the Round marker to the next field and begin a new round.
• Poll - the field of the round being played contains the bar chart icon. Conduct the Poll (its rules are described below), then move the Round marker to the next field and begin a new round.
• Election - the field of the round being played contains the ballot box icon, and the number of players taking part in the game matches the number on the icon. Conduct the Election (its rules are described below). The game then comes to an end.

A Poll and an Election are the moments when you gather the greatest numbers of Votes. The Support tokens collected on the Turnout cards in the individual Localities will, during the Poll and the Election, provide you with Votes in the corresponding Voter Groups.

Poll

Conduct the Poll as follows:

1. Each player, in clockwise order starting from the player holding the Favourite marker, reveals (turns face up) their next Campaign Programme card. (The player chooses which card to reveal.)
2. Players gain Votes from Localities according to the following rules:
   • Localities are settled in the order of the Region fields, from left to right.
   • When a Locality is resolved, each player gains Votes according to the Votes of that Locality:
     • A player may gain Votes from a given Locality only if they have at least 1 Support token on the Turnout card of that Locality.
     • The player with the most Support tokens on that Turnout card receives the highest number of Votes.
     • The player with the next highest number of tokens receives the second number of Votes.
     • The player with the third highest number of tokens receives the smallest number of Votes.
     • A player who is fourth or fifth by number of tokens, or who has placed no tokens on the Turnout card, receives no Votes from it.
     • In the event of a tie:
       • Compare the number of tokens each of the tied players has on the Topic card in the Locality being resolved. If one of the tied players has more Support tokens on the Topic card, that player wins the tie.
       • If the Topic card does not resolve the tie, skip that position: all the tied players receive the Votes for the lower position, thereby lowering the positions of all other players who are in still lower places.
   • When you receive Votes in a Locality, check the Dominant Voter Group on the Turnout card in that Locality. Then move your Vote marker on the track of that group to the right by as many fields as the Votes you received.
3. Each player may make a change to their Staff and their Campaign Programme:
   • Each player may exchange 1 Staffer (other than the Candidate). To exchange a Staffer, discard 1 Staffer secretly to the pool of unselected Staffers, then draw 1 Staffer from that pool (secretly) into your Staff.

Election

Conduct the Election as follows:

1. Each player reveals their last Campaign Programme card (you may do this simultaneously).
2. Players gain Votes from Localities (as in the Poll).
3. Players count all their Votes Cast (that is, their accumulated Votes, taking the position of the Turnout marker into account):
   • From each Voter Group: the number of Votes shown by the Vote marker, if it does not exceed the Turnout marker; or the number of Votes shown by the Turnout marker, if the player's Vote marker exceeds it.
   • From each Campaign Programme card, according to its scoring (Votes from Campaign Programme cards are bonus Votes and do not belong to any Vote track).
4. The player who gained the most Votes Cast wins the Election.
5. In the event of a tie, the winner is determined in turn by:
   • The sum of Votes (ignoring the Turnout markers). The player with more Votes wins.
   • The sum of the player's Budget points (the player with more Budget points wins).
   • If there is still a tie, the winner among the tied players is named by the player holding the Favourite marker.

Example of scoring from Localities

Note: this example names the Vote track "Pensioners", while the voter group is called "Seniors" elsewhere in the rulebook and in the final scoring example below; both refer to the same group, as printed.

1. We settle the Northern Region:
   • Szczecin:
     • ANTEK gains 2 Votes on the Pensioners Vote track (he has more Support tokens on the Turnout card).
     • BARTEK gains 1 Vote on the Pensioners Vote track.
   • Trójmiasto: nobody gains Votes.
2. We settle the Central Region:
   • Łódź:
     • ANIA gains 3 Votes on the Family Vote track.
   • Warszawa:
     • ANIA gains 5 Votes on the Young Voters Vote track (the Turnout card is tied, but she has the most Support tokens on the Topic card).
     • ANTEK gains 3 Votes on the Young Voters Vote track (the Turnout card is tied, but he has more Support tokens on the Topic card than Bartek).
     • BARTEK gains 1 Vote on the Young Voters Vote track.
3. We settle the Western Region:
   • Poznań:
     • ANTEK and BARTEK each gain 2 Votes on the Iron Electorate Vote track (they are tied, so they receive the Votes for the lower position).
     • ANIA gains 1 Vote on the Iron Electorate Vote track (she is next after the tied players).
   • Bydgoszcz: nobody gains Votes.
4. We settle the Eastern Region:
   • Kraków:

Example of final scoring

	ANTEK	BARTEK	ANIA
Young Voters	7	4	10
Families	7	12	10
Seniors	5	5	2
Iron Electorate	8	8	7
Bonus Votes from the Campaign Programme	3	-3	12
Total	30	26

The Campaign Programme results in the example, shown for each player's three cards (from left to right as printed on the example), were: ANTEK -3, +3, +3; BARTEK -3, -3, +3; ANIA +6, +3, +3.

Media broadcast

Whoever controls the media controls the voters. A well-planned election campaign cannot do without carefully chosen topics and the broadcast of expected, prepared materials. Such actions undoubtedly reach a much wider audience than regional appearances.

Some Staffer Actions allow you to carry out a Media broadcast. A Media broadcast can drastically affect the reach of your activities. When resolving it, observe the following rules:

• Point to 1 News card lying on a Blue field. This card is broadcast.
• Place 1 of your Support tokens on the Activity stack in each Locality in which the Topic card corresponding to the broadcast News card appears.

Example of a broadcast: BARTEK triggered a broadcast and indicated the Foreign Policy card as the broadcast card. As a result, BARTEK placed 1 of his Support tokens on the Activity stack in Łódź, Poznań and Rzeszów (these Localities feature the Foreign Policy Topic card).

Turnout cards

A Turnout card consists of:

• Individual voter trait - this icon informs you of special rules that apply in the Localities where this Turnout card lies. Their list is on the next page.
• Dominant voter group - this icon shows the voter group that we can influence when we act in the given Locality. All Votes gained within the Locality will affect the Vote track of the group shown on this icon.
• Funding icon - this icon shows how many funds you will collect in the given Locality (more information in the Staffer Actions collection).
• Support fields - some Actions will allow you to place a Support token on the Turnout card. Place tokens on the fields found on it. The number of tokens you hold on the Turnout card will affect the Votes you receive during the Poll and the Election. Place tokens on Turnout cards according to the following rules:
  • A Support token is always added to the chosen lowest field on the Turnout card.
  • If you want to place a token on a field that is occupied, do so as follows:
    • Move the token that is on that field to another field, then place your token on that field.
      • A token may be moved only to fields that are connected by arrows with the field that this token is leaving, and it may be moved only in the direction shown by the arrowhead (most often upward on the card).
      • If the token being moved would land on an occupied field, first move the token on that occupied field to another field, to make room for the token being moved (according to the rules described above).
        • The token on the top of the card may be pushed off it. In that case it is discarded from the Turnout card and returns to the player's supply. The owner of the discarded token receives no compensation for this.

Example of placing a Support token on a Turnout card:

1. ANTEK places his token on a Turnout card. He must choose one of the lowest fields on the card.
2. ANTEK chooses the field on the left and places his token on it. He moves BARTEK's token to the next field, following the arrow, and does the same with each subsequent token, until the token of ANIA, which as a result is pushed off the card and discarded.

Individual voter traits

Each Turnout card carries an individual voter trait. The traits below apply in the Localities whose Turnout cards show them.

Down with Dirty Politics

When you carry out any Red Action in a Locality in which this Individual voter trait appears, subtract 1 Vote from yourself on the Vote track of the Group that is the Dominant Voter Group in that Locality.

If you have no Votes in the given Voter Group, ignore the effect of this Individual voter trait.

Prices Go Up

Each time you use any Action targeting a Locality in which this voter trait appears, increase the cost of that Action by 1.

If you cannot pay the increased cost of the Action, you cannot carry it out.

Everything Matters

When you carry out any Action in a Locality in which this voter trait appears, additionally place 1 Support token on the Activity stack in that Locality (even for Actions such as Rally of Support).

Scandal card

Politics is not a clean game. Searching for leverage, compromising material and sensational stories about rival candidates is commonplace. And during an election campaign, staffs are able to pay almost any money for information that could bring down and eliminate a competitor. That is why, as a result of the work of independent journalists or the deliberate actions of one of the rival candidates, compromising material about one of the candidates may appear among the events broadcast in the media.

Each player has one Scandal card in the Media Topic card deck (the player is indicated by the colour of the frame). The following rules apply to it:

• A Scandal card may be changed under the same rules as any other News card.
• A Media broadcast may not be triggered on a Scandal card.
• If a Scandal card in a player's colour lies on one of the Blue fields (regardless of whether it has been there since the start of the round or landed there during it), the Candidate belonging to the player the card concerns may not take any actions (when it is their turn during the resolution of Staffer actions, skip the resolution of their action).
  • During the Action Planning phase the player plays their Candidate, even if a scandal concerning them lies on a Blue field. If, however, it is not removed, this player will have to forgo the action when the Candidate is resolved.
  • If the Scandal is removed from the Blue field before the player's Candidate takes action, the action may be carried out normally.
• If a Scandal card lies on the Breaking News field during the Turnout change phase, skip this phase.
• If a Scandal card concerning a player who does not take part in the game lands on a Blue field, ignore it and skip the actions related to it. The card remains in the game and is treated as a Scandal card, but it does not affect any Candidate. When this card lands on the Breaking News field, skip the Turnout change and the Favourite's speech.
• If you cannot find the Scandal card you are interested in in the News card deck (or among the cards set aside, in the alternative variant), it means it has already been discarded or lies among the News cards on the Red fields. In that case playing this particular Scandal card is impossible.

Note! ALTERNATIVE VARIANT OF THE SCANDAL CARDS:

Scandal cards are by default shuffled into the News deck. This means that a player who neglects the media may be unpleasantly surprised, regardless of the actions of other players. This solution is atmospheric, but not always fair. If you want a less random game, follow these instructions:

• Before the game begins, remove all Scandal cards from the News deck and place them beside the board, where everyone can reach them.
• Scandal cards may be introduced into the game only through the actions of Staffers.
• Whenever you should shuffle a Scandal card into the News deck, instead set it aside.

Communication

The Spin Doctors does not require playing across the table, but in many places players may allow themselves negotiations and exchanges. It is worth remembering during the game that players may communicate with one another at any moment and propose all kinds of arrangements or exchanges.

The subject of an exchange may be:

• Deciding, by the player holding the Favourite marker, the order of tied Staffers, in favour of one of the players.
• Handing another player Budget points.
• Allowing another player to change a Topic card when we occupy Red fields.
• Pushing a player's Support token off a White field on a Topic card, to give them a Vote.
• Removing Votes from a particular player during the Favourite's speech.
• Giving up removing Votes from players during the Favourite's speech.

Any agreements that can be carried out immediately are binding (for example, if ANTEK holds the Favourite marker, and during the Favourite's speech ANIA offers him 5 Budget points in return for reducing BARTEK's Votes, then at the moment the players agree to the exchange, ANTEK may not both accept the Budget points from ANIA and give up the action. Likewise, ANIA must hand ANTEK 5 Budget points if he reduces BARTEK's Votes).

Note!

The following is not allowed:

• Placing other players' Support tokens using your own Staffers, unless the Action clearly suggests it.
• Adding Votes to other players using your own Staffers, unless the Action clearly suggests it.
• Exchanging Staffers or lending them to another player.

Remember this, because allowing such actions could drastically spoil the game!

Example first round

Before the game begins, ANTEK, BARTEK and ANIA prepared the game: they laid out the board, the media board, the Turnout cards, the Topic and News cards, and all the markers in accordance with the instructions in the Setup section (BARTEK received the Favourite marker). Then, in secret, they chose their Staffs and Campaign Programmes.

Illustration 1: Prepared components of the game. Illustration 2: Components with which the players began the game.

Before the game began, each player revealed one of their Campaign Programme cards to the others:

• BARTEK revealed the Social Policy card (3+).
• ANTEK revealed the Culture and Education card (2-).
• ANIA revealed the Social Policy card (3+), thereby signalling to BARTEK that they could help each other.

Then the actual game began:

1. The players moved the cards on the News track one field to the right and revealed the card that landed on the Blue field: an Infrastructure card. Then they placed a new card from the News deck on the empty Red field.

2. The players moved on to the Action Planning phase and began playing Staffers:

   • BARTEK played his Candidate face up on the Central Region.
   • ANIA played her Candidate on the Media field.
   • BARTEK played Local Structures face down on the Central Region.
   • ANTEK played his Candidate face up on the Western Region.
   • ANTEK played his Youth Wing face down on the Western Region.
   • ANIA played her Press Spokesperson face down on the Media field.
   • BARTEK played his Candidate's Family face down on the Central Region.
   • ANTEK played a Provocateur face down on the Central Region.
   • ANIA played an Authority face down on the Central Region.

   At this stage the players finished the Action Planning phase (in the first round each player plays 3 Staffers) and revealed the played cards.

Illustration 3: Situation before the Staffers were revealed. Illustration 4: Situation after the Staffers were revealed.

The players moved on to the resolution of Staffer actions. Because of the order of fields and Staffers, their actions took place in exactly this order:

1. ANIA resolved the action of her Candidate on the Media field: she used the Election Spot Action and paid nothing. As a result of the Election Spot Action, ANIA gained 1 Vote on the Pensioners Vote track, and then triggered a broadcast on the Infrastructure card, adding her Support token to the Activity stack in each Locality in which the Infrastructure Topic card appears.
2. ANIA resolved the action of her Press Spokesperson on the Media field: she used the Media Influence Action, paid 2 Budget points, drew cards from the Red fields and 1 card from the News deck, and then placed 3 cards on the Red fields in an order of her choosing, placing the last of them on the discard pile.
3. BARTEK resolved the action of his Candidate on the Central Region field: he used the Substitute Action, and because it is the Candidate's Special Action, BARTEK paid 3 Budget points. Thanks to the Substitute Action BARTEK placed his Youth Wing on the Central Region field.
4. ANIA, before resolving the action of her Authority, offered BARTEK to block ANTEK's Provocateur in exchange for 5 Budget points. BARTEK agreed and handed ANIA 5 Budget points. ANIA used the Undermine Credibility Action and paid 2 Budget points. Thanks to the Undermine Credibility Action, ANIA blocked the actions of the Provocateur.
5. ANTEK resolved his Provocateur and had to forgo its action.
6. BARTEK resolved Local Structures and used the Coordinate Actions Action, so that his subsequent Staffers could affect two Localities at once. The Special Action of Local Structures cost BARTEK 3 Budget points.
7. BARTEK resolved the action of the Candidate's Family and used the Family Statement Action. BARTEK paid 2 Budget points and placed a Support token on a Red field of the Topic card in Łódź, and a Support token on a White field of the Topic card in Warsaw. Because of the trait "Down with Dirty Politics!" in Łódź, BARTEK should lose 1 Vote on the Young Voters Vote track. BARTEK had no Votes on that track, however, so he could ignore this effect.
8. BARTEK resolved the action of his Youth Wing and used the Rally of Support Action. This Action cost BARTEK nothing. Using the Rally of Support Action, BARTEK placed in Łódź 1 Support token on a Turnout card and 1 Support token on the Activity stack, and in Warsaw 1 Support token on a Turnout card and 1 Support token on the Activity stack.
9. ANTEK resolved the action of his Candidate on the Western Region field: he used the Rally of Support Action and named Poznań as the target of his action. ANTEK paid nothing for his Candidate's Basic Action and placed in Poznań 1 Support token on a Turnout card and a Support token on the Activity stack.

The resolution of Staffer Actions phase is over. The players collected their Staffers and moved on to the Debate phase. They began with the resolution of the Activity stacks. In accordance with the rules of the game they did so in the following order:

1. BARTEK in Łódź moved his Support token from the Activity stack onto a Red field on the Topic card, and thereby blocked the possibility of changing it without his consent.
2. BARTEK in Warsaw moved his Support token from the Activity stack onto a White field on the Topic card and pushed his token off the card, thereby gaining 1 Vote on the Pensioners Vote track.
3. ANIA in Warsaw moved her Support token from the Activity stack onto a Red field on the Topic card.
4. ANTEK in Poznań moved his Support token from the Activity stack onto a Red field on the Topic card.
5. ANIA in Poznań moved her Support token from the Activity stack onto a Red field on the Topic card, and thereby blocked the possibility of changing it without her consent and ANTEK's consent.

The resolution of the Activity stacks ended. Since nobody gained Support tokens into their Favourite pool, there was a tie. The Favourite marker went to ANTEK, because he was the first player after BARTEK, in clockwise order.

Illustration 5: State after the Staffer actions were resolved. Illustration 6: State after the Activity stacks were resolved.

The players skipped the Turnout change and Favourite's speech phases, because no card lay on the Breaking News field. The round ended. There is no Poll or Election icon on the Round 1 space, so the players moved the Round marker to the next space and began Round 2.

Ready-made Staffs

Below you will find several Staffs prepared by the authors, with a short description of their function. Choosing a ready-made Staff will greatly help you in your first games.

Staffer numbers are given as printed in the rulebook (the Candidate is not numbered in these lists).

• 3 5 6 9 10 12 - A perfect Staff for the first game. It has no outstanding control options; instead it focuses on safe, reliable Staffers. Such a line-up means you will not have to worry about the budget, and at the same time you will learn several interesting abilities and combinations.
• 3 4 5 8 10 12 - Combining Local Structures with the Press Spokesperson and the Candidate's Family will let you quickly take over and change Topic cards on the board. This effect is supported by a Dirty Campaign with the option of swapping other players' Votes for your own. Control is further facilitated by the Provocateur with the full range of underhand moves, and by the Youth Wing, which can if needed copy the Basic Actions of other Staffers.
• 4 5 6 10 11 12 - A versatile Staff that requires a good plan. A large number of cards with an Order of Action higher than Local Structures allows many potential combinations. The Dirty Campaign and the Candidate's Family make it easier to take over Topic cards, while the Socio-technician, together with the Celebrity, lets you manipulate the scoring on the Vote tracks.
• 1 3 7 9 11 12 - This set lets you respond to many moves and effectively make life difficult for rivals. Thanks to the Chief of Staff you will be able to act before the other players. The Provocateur with Blackmail and the Journalist with Triggering a Scandal give you great options for blocking opponents. Add to this the Treasurer, who will fill your budget, the Socio-technician, who will shake up the Votes on the tracks, and the Youth Wing, which will always find a place for itself.
• 2 4 5 6 8 9 - A versatile Staff which, thanks to the Celebrity and the Press Spokesperson, will handle the media very well; on the other hand, combining the same figures with Local Structures creates interesting combinations in the regions. In addition we have the Authority, for swapping Topic and News cards and protecting your Staffers. The whole Staff is enriched by the Dirty Campaign, which lets you steal other players' Votes and Support tokens.

Score sheet

The final page of the rulebook is a printable record sheet, with the permission of the publisher to copy it for personal use.

The score sheet has five player columns (01 to 05) and rows for:

• Candidate,
• Young Voters,
• Families,
• Seniors,
• Iron Electorate,
• Bonus Votes from the Campaign Programme,
• Total.