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Columns > Unplugged > #79: 1960: The Making of the President
Take a liberal amount of quality mechanics, add one part history, and mix to result in an excellent game that can also teach.  Fans of computer and video games know what to expect from any game labeled as Educational. Far too often a game designer will set out to make a game to teach a concept but forget to add in the fun. It is a truly fine accomplishment when a game is fun to play and learning something new comes naturally out of the simple act of playing. The boardgaming world is no different, too often educational games are educational first and games second. While not designed or labeled as an educational game, 1960: The Making of the President, is an excellent game that can also serve to teach a bit of the history behind this classic election campaign between Nixon and Kennedy. 1960: The Making of the President by Z-man Games 1960 is the second game by Jason Matthews using the system he first used in the cold war era game, Twilight Struggle. (Note, the games were codesigned by Christian Leonhard and Ananda Gupta respectively.) It is a card-driven game for two players where each try to gain majority control of each of the fifty states during the 1960 election between Nixon and Kennedy. States are worth their electoral votes in the final election, so whichever player is able to garner a majority of the electoral votes across the nation wins the game.
 As is typical in a card-driven boardgame in this style, players take turns playing cards which have point values. A card's points can be spent on one of several actions. In this case, players can use points to add cubes (1) to the board to gain influence in states, (2) to media spaces in one of the five regions (which can make gaining influence in that area easier), or (3) to one or more major issues within the campaign: defense, civil rights, and the economy. Controlling issues grants a player the benefit of some resources in between rounds. A hallmark of this style of game are the events which are listed on the front of each card. In addition to providing a fun thematic (and, at times, educational) backdrop to the game, players must choose to use a card for its event or for its action point value. As one might expect, more powerful events tend to appear on cards worth more action points, so players are often deciding to either forgo a powerful event or give up the opportunity to spend a nice pile of action points. This balance between events and action cards is the heart of the game, and is just one of the many well-balanced features in the game. A second mechanic found within the game is a bag of red and blue cube that represent the two parties involved in the election. Whenever a random result needs to be determined in the game, such as determining a start player each round, cubes are drawn from the bag. Whichever player has more of their cubes drawn gains the advantage. It is a fun mechanism to employ but also serves a second purpose. Players add cubes into the bag whenever they play a card. However, more powerful cards allow fewer cubes to be added. Playing a powerful 4CP (CP stands for campaign point) card will mean a player adds zero cubes to the bag, while playing a 2CP card lets a player add two cubes into the bag. In this way, the disadvantage of having less powerful cards (worth 2 or 3CP) is slightly mitigated. The entire game plays over nine rounds. Players play five cards in each of the first five rounds and set aside a sixth card. On the sixth round, a debate occurs using the cards that each player set aside. This debate introduces an interesting set of decisions throughout the game. Players set aside one card per round to be used in the debate. Since a card can be used in either the debate or as an action in an earlier round, players must weigh the benefit of using a powerful card for its event or CP value during the turn against the benefit of using that same powerful card during the debate instead. Winning the debate awards players with bonus control on states of their choice and can help shape the order of priority of the three major issues. A similar, but slightly less critical decision must be made in the seventh and eighth round where players still play five cards but now set aside two. The four cards set aside can be used to make a last-ditch effort to influence four specific states. The ninth and final round is simply a resolution of the election. A bit of election preparation is performed, the set aside cards mildly influence a few states, and then all the votes are tallied to declare a victor.
 The ebb and flow of the game is quite fun as the two players vie for control of key high-electoral vote states while trying to preserve leads in the three major campaign issues and perhaps adding a bit of media control in important areas of the country. The components add quite a bit to the theme. Every event card has a black and white photo with an accompanying caption explaining its historical significance. In this way, a player who knows very little about this famous presidential race can slowly learn about many of important events of the time. Cards are included such as Nixon's "Lazy Shave" and the Catholic Question including problems with activist Puerto Rican Bishops. In addition to the event cards, the game board itself is a great introduction to the electoral system of the US. I love how the cardboard tokens used to represent the states' electoral values display each state's official seal. They're a bit hard to read due to their size, but look very nice. The state names and their victory point (electoral vote) value are clearly printed on the back side. Playing in about 90 to 120 minutes, the game is just a bit too long to be played in a single class hour, but it could still be used as a great teaching tool if used over the course of several days. However, one does not need to be a history teacher (or even a fan) to enjoy this excellent strategic game. Anyone looking for a nice, meaty two-player game that does not get bogged down in too many details should definitely give 1960 a chance. Kid Factor: While the rules are fairly simple to explain, the breadth of the game requires players to make long term plans while simultaneously juggling the demands of several areas. It is best suited for players who have a solid grasp of reading to decipher options on the cards and can make some long term plans. Kids around age 13+ should be able to handle the game without parental assistance. Of course, the game really begins to shine once students have been initially exposed to that period of history, typically high school age and above. In terms of age-appropriate content, very little can be found that would upset anyone. Issues and events of the time are related in an objective way without any sort of sensationalism that might otherwise cause problems.
Want to play the game but can't find it in your local mega-mart or chain toy store? Most game specialty stores (stores that primarily sell games) will either stock the game or know how to obtain it for you.
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