In the 2-Player category, the award goes to Campaign Manager 2008, designed by the team of Christian Leonhard and Jason Matthews and published by Z-Man Games. Players assume the roles of the political campaign mangers in the 2008 presidential election. The players struggle to influence voters in the critical swing states from this election, while targeting key constituencies and trying to define the key issues in the states. Will McCain dominate the national security debate, or can Obama play on people’s fears over the economy? As the campaign manager of a national presidential campaign, you will either identify the road to the White House, or the road to irrelevance. Leonhard and Matthews earned the IGA in 2008 for 1960: The Making of the President, while Matthews also captured the award in 2006 with Twilight Struggle. This is the third IGA for Z-Man Games.
The 2010 nominees were:
General Strategy Games – Two-Player
• Burger Joint, by Joe Huber (Rio Grande Games)
• Campaign Manager 2008, by Christian Leonhard & Jason Matthews (Z-Man Games)
• Claustrophobia, by Croc (Asmodee)
• Jaipur, by Sébastien Pauchon (GameWorks)
• Stronghold, by Ignacy Trzewiczek (Portal Publishing)
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I just played my first two games of 2008 Campaign Manager on Thursday, with the first game using the default setup. Prior to that night, I had enjoyed a single play of 1960: The Making of a President, and lost as Nixon. As someone who didn't grow up in a family engrossed in the political process, I was surprised how much I enjoyed 1960. The only downsides were being very unfamiliar with the historical events portrayed in the game, and the length of the game. After the first 60 minutes, I knew there was little to no chance of catching up in time to win the election.
Therefore, I was excited to give a try at CM2008, which references an election much more familiar to me, and plays in about an hour. The "learning game" which uses the default 15 cards fell very flat for me, but exposed and familiarized me with the game's core mechanics. Immediately after losing badly, we chose to play again using the full rules for drafting your 15 cards at the start of the game.
I'm very glad I did! It was a great deal of fun, and quickly developing one's entire game strategy by drafting 15 of 45 cards was fascinating. I lost again, but I had some solid ideas why, and I'm looking forward to both the next game and adding this one to my collection. I think it's a fantastic two player game that plays smoothly, yet offers a surprising number of challenging choices within its slim and accessible ruleset. Love it!