Designers: Jeff Cornelius (Campaign Trail), David Cornelius (Campaign Trail), Nathan Cornelius (Campaign Trail)

Artist: Christian Strain (Asking for Trobils, Campaign Trail, Evil Intent)

Publisher:  Grey Fox Games (Champions of Midgard, Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Mythos Tales)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority/influence, area movement, campaign/battle card driven, expansion, hand management, political, team-based game, variable player powers

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Campaign Trail: Second Edition and Green Party Expansion is already fully-funded. In fact, pledges currently total more than 28x the initial funding goal with 2 days left to go on the campaign!

Player Count: 1-8

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About: “Campaign Trail is a strategy board game in which players pit their campaign skills against one another as they vie for the Presidency of the United States. The Green Party Expansion adds more action cards, more candidates, new global events, and end game goals that introduce new strategies and allows more players to compete for the White House.”

How It Works: “Each player in the game assumes the role of a candidate – either for President or for Vice President. For the game, these two types are equal. Each candidate is a member of one of three political parties: Democrat, Libertarian, or Republican.” The new Green Party Expansion adds the Green Party for a total of 4 different parties, and allows play for up to 8 players.

“Campaign Trail is played over the span of three months: August, September, and October. Each month is represented by 1/3 of the action card deck. After the final card is drawn from each of the August and September decks, a debate is held. After the final card of the October deck is drawn, Election Day occurs – any final voters are placed (due to cards played throughout the game) and the winner is declared.”

“Each month is divided into ’rounds.’ In each round, every party takes one turn, going in turn order according to the turn order track on the board. When it is your party’s turn, if there are two candidates in your party, you choose which candidate goes first and which goes second: each candidate in the party gets their own turn. After all candidates in the party have had their turn, the next party takes their turn(s). When it is your turn, you must play one card from your hand, then 1) Choose one action from that card, 2) Carry out that action, 3) Discard the played card (after all actions have been carried out), and 4) Refresh up to 5 cards (if you are already at 5 cards, do not draw).”

“There are six different actions in Campaign Trail. They are divided into two groups: support actions (those which set your party up to take other actions, such as gaining resources or strategically positioning your pawn) and direct actions (those which place voters out on the board).” Support actions include Travel, Fundraise, and Register, and Direct Actions include Campaign, Advertise, and Politick.

“During August and September the parties continue to take turns until the last card is drawn from the current month’s deck. When this happens, continue to take turns until the end of the current round (i.e., until the last party on the turn order track has completed its turn – so that all parties have an equal number of turns). You may count the number of cards remaining in a month’s deck (without looking at them or rearranging them) to see how many rounds will be left that month. When the round in which the August deck runs out is complete, proceed to the first debate. If this is a 4-6 player game, the first debate will take place among the Vice Presidential candidates. When the round in which the September deck runs out is complete, proceed to the second debate. The second debate is always among the Presidential candidates.”

“Each debate is divided into three debate rounds. In each debate round, every candidate in the debate will have a turn to play one action card to influence the issues in their party’s favor. In turn order, each participating candidate may play 1 card from their hand that has at least one debate issue icon that matches an issue already on the debate arena (either from the debate topic card or an action card played earlier in the debate, called a rabbit trail). If a player does not have any cards that have matching issue icons, they must pass without playing a card. If they do not play an action card during a debate round, they may still play cards in later rounds. For every debate issue icon on the card you played, move the matching issue marker one space towards your party’s side of the debate arena: If the marker is in the center of the arena, move it onto the track that matches your party’s color; if the marker is already on your party’s track, move it higher, away from the center of the arena; and if the token is on another party’s track, move it towards the center of the arena. Move each marker one space (the center of the arena counts as one space) for each time the issue appears on the card you played. Once all candidates in the debate have played one card, the first debate round ends. Then, play two more rounds with each candidate, in turn order, playing one card in each debate round (you will play a total of 3 cards).”

“During October, the parties continue to take turns until the last card is drawn from the October deck. When this happens, continue to take turns until the end of the current round (i.e., until the last party on the turn order track has completed their turn – so that all parties have an equal number of turns). You may count the number of cards remaining in a month’s deck (without looking at them or rearranging them) to see how many rounds will be left that month. Unlike August and September, in October you will not draw cards to refresh your hand when the deck is empty.”

“At the end of the round, resolve any ‘End of Game’ politick actions, such as October Surprise or Recount, in turn order. The campaign is now over. Make sure that the Electoral College track accurately shows which party controls each state. The party with the most electoral votes is declared the winner and the next President and Vice President of the United States. If the electoral college counters are too close to show a clear winner (within 3 EV), recount the actual electoral votes by adding them on a calculator to determine the winner. If there is a tie, the tied party with the majority in the most individual states (regardless of size) is the winning party.”

Comparisons: Other political-themed games also utilizing an area majority/influence mechanic include 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis; 1960: The Making of a President; 1989: Dawn of Freedom; Andean Abyss; Argent: The Consortium; Cuba Libre; Diplomacy; Dune; Fief: France 1429; Fire in the Lake; A Game of Thrones: The Board Game; Hannibal & Hamilcar; Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage; Imperial; Imperial 2030; Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 – ?; Liberté; Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection; Lisboa; Louis XIV; Die Macher; Ninjato; Pax Pamir; Rex: Final Days of an Empire; Rialto; San Marco; Struggle of Empires; A Study in Emerald; Tammany Hall; Triumph & Tragedy: European Balance of Power 1936-1945; Twilight Imperium; and Twilight Struggle.

What Should I Pledge?:
$27 Returning Backer: Supporter Level+: for returning backers only, includes the retail version of the Green Party Expansion, green cubes and cylinders to match the retail base game’s components, a larger box and tray, and (8) Player Mats.
$30 Returning Backer: Voter Level+: for returning backers only, includes the Deluxe version of the Green Party Expansion, green meeples to max the Deluxe base game’s components, and a larger box and tray.
$44 Supporter: includes the retail version of the base game and a larger box and tray.
$59 Voter: includes the Deluxe version of the base game, a larger box and tray, and the Political Animal Meeples.
$64 VP – Standard Base Game and Expansion: includes everything in the Supporter pledge level, plus the retail version of the new Green Party Expansion.
$79 President – Deluxe Base Game and Expansion: includes everything in the Voter pledge level, plus the Deluxe version of the new Green Party Expansion.
$99 POTUS – (All In): includes everything in the President pledge level, plus the Large Neoprene Game Board (double-sided).

Add-Ons:
$25 Large Neoprene Game Board (double-sided)
$45 Standard Base Game (retail version)
$60 Deluxe Base Game
$20 Animeeples for Base Game (includes 330 Animeeples for previous backers; it is included with Deluxe copies)
$7 Animeeples for Expansion (includes 110 Animeeples for previous backers; it is included with Deluxe copies)
$8 Base Game Wood Party/Deluxe Tokens (for previous backers; it is included with Deluxe copies)
$5 Dirty Politics Module
$10 Advanced Solo Mode (the game already contains a Solo Mode, but this adds a 50-card Solo Deck for Advanced solo play)

KS Exclusives
Almost all of the stretch goals unlocked in this Kickstarter campaign are exclusives, as is everything Deluxe. That means all Deluxe versions of the game and the new Green Party Expansion, all Animeeple add-ons, and the Base Game Wood Party/Deluxe Tokens.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $99 for the POTUS – (All In) pledge, $5 for the Dirty Politics Module, $10 for the Advanced Solo Mode, plus $11 in shipping for a total of $125.

Campaign Trail: Second Edition and Green Party Expansion completes its Kickstarter on Sunday, October 25th and tentatively ships in September 2021.