Stimmvieh Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The contents: Campaign resources
• Goal: Enrichment
• Before the first game: Introduction into politics
• Preparing the game: Pre-campaigning
  • Who is the startplayer?
  • What if there is a tie?
• Playing the game: The campaign
  • Your turn: Campaign events
  • Which card may you take?
  • Refilling the display
  • Example
  • Can you refrain from taking a card?
• End of the game
• Evaluation: Election night
  • What if there is a tie?
  • Example
  • Example: Counting donations
• Several campaigns
• Your individual game
• Alternative rules: start player and tiebreaker
  • ALTERNATIVE 1
  • ALTERNATIVE 2: The moderator

The contents: Campaign resources

• Politicians from 4 parties with influence values from 1 through 9.
• 4 party cards – one per party.
• 4 overviews/player aids (front/back). Also a blank card "For your own campaign slogan".
• 17 vote cards with campaign slogans, votes and influence values from 1 through 4.
• 1 base card for the vote cards.
• 24 donation cards with party donators, donations and influence values from 1 through 4.
• 1 base card for the donation cards.
• ... and this rulebook, of course.
• For the 3-player game: the two "Angelus" cards (see the 3-player notes below).

In the 3-player game some rules change. You will find the additions/changes in the black boxes.

In the blue boxes you can find hints by Andrea, the designer of Stimmvieh. They shall help you make good decisions, especially in the beginning.

Goal: Enrichment

You win the game if you have the most donations in the end. If you collect the most or second most votes (in German disrespectfully called "Stimmvieh", i.e. voting cattle), you may double your donations beforehand. The other two players only count their donations.

Hint by Andrea: The easiest way to win the game is to either only collect donations or to strive for the second most votes.

Before the first game: Introduction into politics

Get used to the campaign cards. Check the overview cards to see the distribution of values on the votes and donation cards. There are more politicians with high influence than respective votes or donation cards.

Hint by Andrea: Cards with an identical number of votes have different influence values; for example, there are two 25,000 vote cards, with influence values of 6 and 7. The donation cards, though, all have different values. However, relatively speaking, the politicians with lower influence get you more donations per point of influence.

Preparing the game: Pre-campaigning

Place both base cards in the middle of the table with two to three inches in between them. Shuffle the vote and the donation cards separately. Place the four topmost donation cards face up on the table below the base cards. Place the stacks of votes and donations onto the base cards, so that you can see the topmost card.

Decide who will manage which party. Take your party card and place it in front of you. Take the nine politicians of your party into your hand. Also take one overview card.

3-player game: With three players shuffle the fourth party's politicians and place them on the table as a facedown stack. Place this party's party card next to it and the card "Angelus' backbenchers" below the stack.

Decide secretly which four politicians shall be your top candidates in your campaign and place these four cards facedown in front of you. If you later flip the politicians with the highest influence total, you will go first.

Hint by Andrea: It is great to be the start player if there are single cards with high donations displayed in the middle. In this case you might want to pick politicians with high influences as your top candidates. However, it is also good to distribute high and low influence values both among top candidates and backbenchers to increase your flexibility.

Flip your top candidates simultaneously and put them face up above your party card. The five cards remaining in your hand are your backbenchers. You will play with all nine cards.

3-player game: see "Who is the startplayer?" below for the Angelus cards.

Who is the startplayer?

Add the influence values of your top candidates. If you flipped the highest total influence (the total on your four top candidates cards), you are the start player.

3-player game: With three players flip the top four cards from Angelus' stack – these are her top candidates, which you place above her party card. Place her remaining cards face up below it – these are her backbenchers. Place the card "Angelus' backbenchers" next to them. The first player also gets the "Angelus" card. Should Angelus herself have flipped the highest total influence, the player to her right is the start player.

What if there is a tie?

If two or more of you flipped the highest total influence, the player with the lowest total starts. If there is a tie there, too, the lowest total players shuffle their backbenchers and flip one politician randomly – the higher influence value starts.

Playing the game: The campaign

You take turns and play in rounds; a game lasts nine rounds.

Your turn: Campaign events

On your turn you play one of your politicians (from the table or your hand) and put it on the matching discard pile for top candidates (next to the vote cards stack) or for backbenchers (next to the donations card stack). Take any of the face up donation or vote cards from the middle.

You can only take a card if its influence value is less than or equal to the influence of the politician you played.

For example, if you play a politician with influence "7" you can take one vote or donation card with values 1-7, but none that needs an influence of 8 or 9.

Which card may you take?

• You can take any card on display according to these rules, no matter if you played a top candidate or a backbencher.
• You must not take the topmost face up card on either of the two stacks.
• You cannot take more than one card, even if your politician has a high enough value for doing so.

Collect your donation and vote cards on two separate face up stacks, so that the other players can see the topmost card and the number of cards, but not the total of donations or votes.

Hint by Andrea: You should decide early on to either concentrate on votes or donations. It's useful to pay attention to who has how many votes as an advance of 5,000 votes may be enough for doubling your donations.

Refilling the display

Afterwards you place a new card in the middle of the table so that the next player can also choose from four cards.

Important:

• If you played a top candidate – an influence card from the table – you move the topmost vote card from the vote cards stack (the stack marked with the table icon) to the table.
• If you played a backbencher from your hand however, you move the topmost donation card from the donations card stack (the stack marked with the hand icon) to the table.

Hint by Andrea: Decide early on to either concentrate on votes or donations. Before playing check which card you want to make available for the next player. It makes sense to offer the next player a card she does not need, even if you have to play a higher politician than needed for doing so. Is there a low donations and a high vote card face up on the draw piles? Play a backbencher. Or does your neighbour only collect donations? Then offer her a(nother) vote card and thus play a top candidate.

Example

It's Gisela's turn. Follow her steps 1, 2 and 3 in this picture.

1. She sends Detlef Hanz to collect the donation of 60 T€ from Dazebook Inc. She puts his card onto the donations discard pile (on the left side).
2. She places the donation card from Dazebook Inc. face up below her party card.
3. Since with Detlef she played a backbencher from her hand, she then places the topmost donation card onto the table.

Can you refrain from taking a card?

• If you can take a vote or donation card from the display with the politician you played, you must do so.
• If you cannot take any of the open vote or donation cards because you do not have any politicians left that have a high enough influence, you must play a politician without taking any donation or vote card.
• You may volunteer to play a politician with too little influence in order to save the display for the next player. However, you then do not get a vote or donation card, of course.

3-player game: If with three players it is Angelus' turn, the player with the "Angelus" card decides about her action, playing either a backbencher or top campaigner, and then passes on the card to her left neighbour.

End of the game

The game ends after nine rounds when nobody has any politicians left.

Evaluation: Election night

After the last round you determine who wins the game. Count the votes you collected.

3-player game: If you play with three players count Angelus' votes, too.

If you have the most or second-most votes, you may double the donations you collected. All other players simply count their donations. If you have the highest total of donations, you win the game.

3-player game: With three players Angelus can be among those who double their votes. She can also win the game.

What if there is a tie?

If more than two of you have the same amount of votes and are competing for first and/or second place, add the influence values on your votes. If you needed less influence for your votes than the others, you are in the lead and may double your donations. If there's a tie there, too, all of you involved may double your donations.

Example

Karin collected 105,000 votes, Daniel and Holger each have 90,000 votes, Gisela has 30,000 votes. Karin may double her donations; Daniel and Holger compare the influence they needed:

• Daniel: 9 + 7 + 5 + 2 = 23 total influence.
• Holger: 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 = 22 total influence.

Since Holger needed less influence for the votes than Daniel, he may double his donations just like Karin. Daniel simply counts his donations.

Example: Counting donations

Karin has collected donations of € 340k, Holger has € 370k, Daniel € 430k and Gisela € 780k.

• Gisela: € 780k.
• Holger: € 370k × 2 = € 740k.
• Karin: € 340k × 2 = € 680k.
• Daniel: € 430k.

Hence Gisela wins with a total of donations of € 780k, before Holger with € 740k, Karin with € 680k and Daniel with € 430k.

Several campaigns

If you play more than one campaign, note 5 points for the winner, 3 for second, 2 for third and 1 point for last place.

3-player game: With three players also note down Angelus' points.

In the end you win if you gathered the most points.

Your individual game

Use the plain vote card to make your game individual and one-of-a-kind. Note your own campaign slogan on the card and discard one vote card you do not want to use any more. Copy its influence value and the number of votes to your plain vote card. I am looking forward to see your individual vote card at www.facebook.com/BeWitchedspiele.

Alternative rules: start player and tiebreaker

The 2014 rules document offers two alternative rules, on the start player and on ties. The main rules above follow its ALTERNATIVE 1 for these points. ALTERNATIVE 2 is given here, transcribed from that document.

ALTERNATIVE 1

If two or more of you flipped the highest total influence, the player with the lowest total starts. If there is a tie there, too, these players shuffle their backbenchers and flip one card randomly – the higher value starts.

If more than two of you have the same amount of votes and are competing for first and/or second place, add the influence values on your votes. If you needed less influence for your votes than the other/s, you are in the lead and may double your donations. If there's a tie there, too, all of you involved may double your donations.

ALTERNATIVE 2: The moderator

Components and setup as printed in the 2014 document (its moderator text is not labelled as an alternative, but it is only used by ALTERNATIVE 2 and is not part of the main rules above, which have no moderator card):

• 1 card "moderator".
• As the oldest player you are the moderator. Take the moderator card and place it face up in front of you. You are in charge of completing the open display in the middle of the table throughout the game.
• As the most experienced manager you always break ties. (The 2014 document states both "oldest player" and "most experienced manager" for the moderator; both are transcribed as printed.)

Start player: If two or more of you flipped the highest total influence, the player sitting next to the moderator in clockwise order is the startplayer, with the moderator herself starting if she is in the tie.

Election night: If there is a tie for the first and/or second place in votes, the player sitting closest to the moderator in clockwise order wins it. If the moderator is in the tie, she wins it.

Refilling the display: The moderator helps you place the right card in the middle if needed.