Ahoy Maties!!!: The Presidential Game

As I have told my readers many times before, our family loves to play games of any kind. We are extremely competitive. We also are very active as a family when it is time for the presidential election. We go so far as to have an election night party with friends. It doesn’t matter what political party we are ‘rooting’ for, we just love to get together and watch the returns. When the opportunity to review “The Presidential Game” came to me, I knew it would be a great fit for my family.

“The Presidential Game” is a board game with an optional internet component. It is intended for children and adults from 11 years old and up, although younger kids could play with adult supervision. The concepts in the game are a little beyond the younger kids, so they wouldn’t necessarily understand it but they could have fun playing it. The game retails for $35 and is available online as well as in a few locations (listed on the website). It includes the, 1 20" x 30" GAME Board, 1 Score Pad, 3 Blue Dice, 3 Red Dice, 80 Politics Cards, 40 "Write-Your-Own" Politics Cards, 150 Republican Votes (red chips), 150 Democrat Votes (blue chips), and 1 Electoral WebMap™ Calculator Access Code. There is no assembly required. The only components you will need from home are either a pen / pencil if you use the Score Pad, or a computer with internet access if you opt to use the Electoral WebMap Calculator.

“The Presidential Game” is played by two teams. Each team may have as few as 1 player or as many as desired. This makes this game ideal for a large family or even a co-op class. The goal of the game is to win 270 electoral votes. The two teams are the Democrats and the Republicans. Teams travel the states and have to choose whether to campaign for votes in a state or fund raise in a state. You keep track of electoral votes acquired with either the Score Pad or the WebMap Calculator. The players determine the amount of time until the election and then hit the campaign trail. For a time period of about 15 weeks until the ‘election,’ the game will take approximately an hour to complete.

We are really enjoying this game. It combines two of our passions into one activity. It has been very educational for my kids. My 11th grader is about to take government. He has always enjoyed the election process, but didn’t really grasp the concept of the electoral college. My eighth grader is currently taking American History. She, too, has always enjoyed watching election returns but didn’t completely understand the process. Playing “The Presidential Game” has given us plenty of opportunity to learn about the election process. We give it a double thumbs up!