1960: The Making of the President
Published by Z-Man Games
Designed by Christian Leonhard & Jason Matthews
Graphic Design by Joshua Cappel
Cover by Jesper Ejsing
Full-color boxed set with 1 Game Board, 108 Cards, 170 Wooden Support Cubes, 2 Candidate Pawns, 50 State Seals, 12 Momentum Markers, 8 Endorsement Markers, 3 Issues Marker, 2 Wooden Turn/Phase Cubes, & 22-page rulebook; $49.99
By its very nature, the process of the United States presidential election would seem a perfect medium for a game. It is confrontational. It is tactical. It has its own structure. It is about claiming or controlling territory. It has its own mythology. So there have been numerous games over the years, both board and card games, many of which seemed to appear in the months before an election. Yet in 2008, there have been no new titles and so gamers have turned to the most recently released game: 1960: The Making of the President.
This is a two-player board game in which the participants not just play through a theoretical presidential election, but an actual presidential election, specifically that of 1960, between the Republican Richard M. Nixon, Vice-President under Eisenhower and seen as having the common touch; and the charming, Harvard-educated Democrat, Senator John F. Kennedy. The election result was the closest in electoral history, but 1960: The Making of the President offers the players the opportunity to see if either candidate can do better, contesting over the same issues and ground . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: November 7, 2008
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