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Columns > Unplugged > #63: Die Macher
Why you need to play a five hour boardgame about German elections...  As one might guess from the name, Die Macher is a German-designed boardgame. Up to five players, representing various political parties, compete in seven regional elections, garnering additional support and victory points throughout the game. Bonus points are awarded at the end of the game for matching national opinions, winning elections in each region, and having the largest party membership. The game is several hours long, but involves players at each step through negotiation and planning. Before you dismiss a five hour boardgame out of hand, realize that there are plenty of adults that spend at least that much time watching their favorite sports teams on a given weekend. Shoot, with a nice baseball double-header is well past that time frame. It is an older game (it is listed as game number 1 in the huge online BoardGameGeek database) and was out of print until recently. Despite its age, out-of-print nature, and the fact it was only produced in German, the game has an avid following and is thought to be one of the best German-designed boardgames of last century. Thankfully, Valley Games Inc. has picked up the license to the game and has now released an international version of the game, making it available for the English speaking public.
 As mentioned, each player represents a political party who tries to win as many votes as possible in seven regional elections while simultaneously manipulating the national opinion board in order to match their particular political leanings. The game is played in six action rounds, with a seventh election happening immediately after the sixth ﾖ with no intervening player actions. There are two scoring boards used to keep track of various player bonuses and national trends, but the focus of the game is on four regional election boards. When one election is finished, the focus shifts to the next regional board, and the old region is replaced with a new one (to be scored four elections in the future). Thus, players are not only focused on the current election, but are also maneuvering and planning for three future elections. Both players and regions have four "opinion cards" which represent their opinions on six or seven different issues. Every issue has a for or against opinion, such as for or against bioengineering, for or against nuclear power, for or against joining the European Union (this is Germany, after all), for or against military increases, and so on... To win an election, players must spend cash to organize election meetings (tokens which are placed on a specific election region), which are "cashed in" for actual votes at a later date. Players gain a multiplier to their election meeting markers for each of their party's opinions that match that region's opinions. Penalties are applied for mismatches. Once all players have cashed in their markers for votes, everyone earns cash and victory points according to the value of the region. (All regions have a maximum possible 50 votes, but regions are randomly set up with different victory points that vary from about 20 to 80.) Thus, gaining 50 votes in a region worth 60 points will give you 60 points and 60,000 euros. Gaining 25 votes in the same region will earn you 30 points and 30,000 euros. The winning player in a region gets two bonuses. First they can modify what cards appear on the national opinion board (and thus will be more likely to earn victory points by matching those opinions at the end of the game) and the winner also gets to place a media marker on the national opinion board, which automatically earns victory points at the end of the game. (Earlier elections are worth more victory points.) To complicate matters, players can make coalitions (and if their party opinions match well enough can even be forced into making coalitions) which means their votes are combined to determine who wins the election (but not for calculating scores from votes and cash awards). Since a single player can earn a maximum of 50 votes, coalitions have a big advantage as they can earn a maximum of 100 (combined) votes. As with many games of this style, the joy of playing is in all the little details. To explain its intricacies, it will be easiest to go over the course of a complete turn. (Remember, there are six turns in the entire game, with an extra election right after the sixth turn.) To begin, players bid to determine the turn order. This is actually very important and can be quite expensive in later rounds. The winner can choose any player to go first. For example, they could choose to go first in order to be the first to buy an open media control marker (mentioned later) or choose to go last. Going last allows a player to see what everyone else does before acting, and any ties in an election are awarded to the player who got to that score last. (So going last will often break an election tie.) Next, players are allowed to exchange one card out of their party platform. This lets players slowly adjust their party's policies to better match upcoming elections or the national election board. The third step in a turn is the playing of Shadow Cabinet cards. Each player starts the game with a limited number of these cards which can be played face-down on elections on the board. Each card has several possible uses, chosen when the card is revealed. Each card has a cost, the more powerful cards have higher prices. They can modify an election multiplier, affect media markers, add votes directly, and most importantly ﾖ some of the Shadow Cabinet cards have a phone icon on them which qualifies a player to make a coalition in that specific election. Since a coalition can add their vote totals together to determine victory in an election, coalitions present in an election will typically beat out any other individual. Determining when and with who to form a coalition with is a key part of the game, and can make for interesting negotiations. After coalitions are formed (if any) in step 4, players buy media markers and then (step 5) buy meeting markers. Only 4 meeting markers can be bought per turn per election, so planning ahead is important. Just before meeting markers are cashed in for votes (multiplied by their trend multiplier), each election has a opinion poll that is auctioned to the players. The high bidder gets to look at the opinion poll, and then "publish it" by modifying party opinion multipliers as shown on the card, or pass on publishing it (if the card wouldn't help their party). Having the most media markers in an area makes you immune to any negative adjustments due to the opinion polls. After all this adjustment, votes in the current election are tallied and a winner is determined. Players gain points and money according to the number of votes gained and the total size of the electoral region. The completed election board is cleared and a new one (to be resolved four turns from now) is set up. The last step in a turn has players earning extra cash or party members via Party Contribution cards. Each player plays a card face up (to earn additional cash, basically in the form of bribes with a small loss of party membership) or face down. If played face down, no additional money is earned (the bribe is turned down) but the party gains membership. The party who turns down the largest bribe, gains even more party members. After one turn ends, the next begins with a new starting player auction, party adjustments, and so on... This continues for six rounds, and at the end of the sixth round, a seventh election occurs immediately in which no coalitions are allowed. After the final election, victory points are summed up with bonuses awarded to players who match the national party board, and the party with the largest membership. Once all the totals are calculated, the player with the most victory points is declared the national election winner. Die Macher takes a commitment to play, requiring several hours, but the payoff is an engrossing game that makes the hours fly by. The new edition also contains a 5 election variant (rather than 7) to reduce the overall time. It gives the same flavor of the game, but with fewer elections, resources aren't quite as tight. It is nice for first-time players since, if they shoot themselves in the foot with early planning, the game doesn't last as long. The rules are short and clear, but it helps to either play with someone who knows the rules or download one of the player reference cards available over on the BoardGameGeek web site. The game pulls off a nice balance of strategy and planning with player-player negotiation and deal making. Players begin the game with just a little cash, and slowly build up a campaign chest, creating a fun game that steamrolls into a climactic conclusion. It isn't for the casual game player, but for anyone willing to commit the time, it is a deep and enjoyable way to spend a rainy afternoon or evening.
 Kid Factor: As a game based around negotiation and complex interactions, it isn't recommended for the younger set. Younger teens should be able to play and understand the rules, but will may run afoul of inadequate planning. Older teens should be able to handle the necessary planning and scheming to play successfully. Other than the game's complex interactions, there is little to object to. In fact, since many of the issues are key concepts debated in most countries, the game itself can be a springboard to discuss current political debates and events.
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