Every little child has had dreams of, one day, becoming the president of his country. While such dreams fizzle into pipe dreams for most children as they grow into adults, there is hope for fun-loving adults to put their abilities to the test if they were to preside over the affairs of a nation.
While a game such as the the
Geo-Political Simulator might be advanced in that it attempts to replicate what presidential candidates and executives face in real life, another kind of game developed by Nigerians –
Who Wants to be President? – makes the run for presidency and use of executive powers as realistic as possible. Why? It is game that involves participation with other real live persons as opposed to the dictates of a computer console, and it was designed with Nigerians in mind as all the states in the federation are represented on the board.
Another plus for this game is that it attempts to bring back the gradually eroding interpersonal social collaboration and communication among people in the retro style of board games a la Monopoly, Scrabble and Chess before the proliferation of computers. There is no doubt that this is a game that is to be enjoyed by family and friends. If you’ve been looking for an activity that could help strengthen social ties among family members or loved ones, this game is a winner. It fosters healthy competition in a fun way.
What to know about the game
Who Wants to be President? is a board game which delivers the full impact of Elections and the Electoral Process.
Get nominated by your party, campaign, get votes and contest for President! All in your Home, at School and at Clubs. See what Public Opinion does to politicians as strategies are forged for their campaigns.
Anyone from age 8 years and older can play. 2-6 players can play this game individually or in teams.
Playing the Game
Party Nomination
The game begins with the nomination process; players roll dice in turns and the player with the highest score starts by picking the top card from the public opinion stack. This goes on in turns until a party nomination card is picked by a player. That player becomes the candidate of the party and a vote record sheet is opened for the payer
Once nominated, the candidate rolls the dice and using a token, counts into the track on the board. This is the beginning of the campaign for votes.
Other players continue picking public opinion cards to get their nominations.
Campaigning for votes
After nomination, the candidate as they are now called, take a tour of all the states of Nigeria following the game track. Upon landing on a state, votes are allocated. To do this, the top card on the electorate vote’s stack is revealed. Each state has a color code for population range and this color code is used to allocate votes by matching the color on the state with the color on the revealed electorate card. The votes earned by the Candidate are recorded by the Electoral Officer on the score sheet for the Candidate.
The candidates continue to visit different states and gather votes in preparation for the elections. A Candidate may visit a state more than once. The higher vote gained in the state is retained. The score sheet allows for a maximum of three visits per state.
Public opinion Cards
The public opinion cards are used as campaign strategy cards all through the Campaign phase of the game. Players collect them at the beginning while trying to get nominated, and as Candidates also when they land on the public opinion spaces on the running track of the board.
The Campaign strategy cards provide a Candidate with power to intervene in electoral fortunes of another Candidate. A Public opinion card presented to a Candidate in the course of play must be obeyed by the receiving Candidate, except where the receiving Candidate opts to counter the card using a reverse action card provided in the Public opinion stack. A good tip is to wait for the presenter to name all the states to be affected by the card.
The effect of the Public opinion card is noted on the score sheets by the Electoral Officer or Recorder. The public opinion card presented remains open in front of the affected Candidate until all its demands are served and then it is returned to the bottom of the Public opinion stack.
ELECTIONS:
This is the stage of the game where all campaigns stop and the votes gained are counted by the Electoral officer and the winner is declared. To participate in the elections, a candidate must have valid votes from at least 21 states.
The elections are brought on in one of two ways
- When a player counts into the Clear white space at the centre of the game board
- When a player reveals a public opinion card that state “Instant Elections”
When any of these events occur:
The electoral Officer confirms the number of states from which each player has received valid votes and then proceeds to tally the votes for each party and Candidate.
The Winner is the Candidate who has garnered the largest number of votes from the Campaigns.
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This article was first published on 21st January 2014
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What to know about the game
Who Wants to be President? is a board game which delivers the full impact of Elections and the Electoral Process.
Get nominated by your party, campaign, get votes and contest for President! All in your Home, at School and at Clubs. See what Public Opinion does to politicians as strategies are forged for their campaigns.
Anyone from age 8 years and older can play. 2-6 players can play this game individually or in teams.
Playing the Game
Party Nomination
The game begins with the nomination process; players roll dice in turns and the player with the highest score starts by picking the top card from the public opinion stack. This goes on in turns until a party nomination card is picked by a player. That player becomes the candidate of the party and a vote record sheet is opened for the payer
Once nominated, the candidate rolls the dice and using a token, counts into the track on the board. This is the beginning of the campaign for votes.
Other players continue picking public opinion cards to get their nominations.
Campaigning for votes
After nomination, the candidate as they are now called, take a tour of all the states of Nigeria following the game track. Upon landing on a state, votes are allocated. To do this, the top card on the electorate vote’s stack is revealed. Each state has a color code for population range and this color code is used to allocate votes by matching the color on the state with the color on the revealed electorate card. The votes earned by the Candidate are recorded by the Electoral Officer on the score sheet for the Candidate.
The candidates continue to visit different states and gather votes in preparation for the elections. A Candidate may visit a state more than once. The higher vote gained in the state is retained. The score sheet allows for a maximum of three visits per state.
Public opinion Cards
The public opinion cards are used as campaign strategy cards all through the Campaign phase of the game. Players collect them at the beginning while trying to get nominated, and as Candidates also when they land on the public opinion spaces on the running track of the board.
The Campaign strategy cards provide a Candidate with power to intervene in electoral fortunes of another Candidate. A Public opinion card presented to a Candidate in the course of play must be obeyed by the receiving Candidate, except where the receiving Candidate opts to counter the card using a reverse action card provided in the Public opinion stack. A good tip is to wait for the presenter to name all the states to be affected by the card.
The effect of the Public opinion card is noted on the score sheets by the Electoral Officer or Recorder. The public opinion card presented remains open in front of the affected Candidate until all its demands are served and then it is returned to the bottom of the Public opinion stack.
ELECTIONS:
This is the stage of the game where all campaigns stop and the votes gained are counted by the Electoral officer and the winner is declared. To participate in the elections, a candidate must have valid votes from at least 21 states.
The elections are brought on in one of two ways
