A More Perfect Union: The Struggle to Ratify the Constitution

Very preliminary rating based upon 1 play of the prototype.

(Aug 2012) Two first time players being taught the rules by the game designer - no previous reading or exposure to the game.

I was the Anti's and WON with Bad Weather in Round 7 allowing me to win NC as my 5th Anti-state (no convention held) and trigger the auto-win. Without that card I would have likely lost due to a much lower convention value count.

We had a lot of fun playing this. My most enjoyable CDG experience to date since I was able to "get" the rules pretty easily. I have only played Twilight Struggle, 1960, Labyrinth, Hannibel and Wilderness War once each so although I am "familiar" with CDGs I do not have a ton of experience or depth in any one game.

LIKE =

Easy to grasp rules.

Clearly laid out board with color coded reminders of which state conventions are potentially coming out next.

The ability to "back-room" up to 2 cards for conventions.

The ability to not trigger opponent events in 2 ways - initiative and French Revolution.

Had FUN playing it even as a non-history buff.

I had a dream about playing the game the night I played it. For me, that is usually a sign of a game that my mind enjoys and will enjoy for a long time after many plays.

DISLIKE =

Forgot about skulldrudgery until mid-game. Perhaps need a "spot' on the board to remind players it is an option.

French revoultion track = seemed to hard to "win" the tug of war. Will get "polished' during playtesting I am sure.

No player aid. I love player aids to remind me what "C", "R", "G" and "P" stand for. Another way to remind about skulldrudgery.

I look forward to watching this game go through the play testing process and get published. The game already works really well and gameplay was very smooth. Would definitely play again.

One play with two first-time players. Using playtest components and version 2.0 playtest rules. No French Revolution track. One minor rules tweak: no spending CP to call an early convention during turn 1.

A very fun game. Excellent use of the CDG system. The game seems very well done. Balance was great. Feds nailed down 6 ratifications in the first 3 or 4 turns, but then Antis got 2 states in quick succession and threatened to pull down more. Bad Weather cancelled the last convention of the game (NC) during the first card play of turn 7 (last turn of the game). With neither player holding a decisive victory, we moved to the marginal victory conditions which, when we totaled up the values of each of our states and threw in the momentum value of the "ratified with amendments" state (RI, I think), left us with a score of 40-39 in the Federalists favor. Can't get any closer than that.

The game is definitely asymmetric with the Feds having some advantage in the card deck, due to their needing to win 9 states to auto-win (versus 5 for the Antis), but cool opportunities for the Antis to steal some conventions and gum up the Feds' plans. The Initiative card play--similar to the headline phase in Twilight Struggle--makes for some tough decisions between event play and holding the initiative. The game narrows to a tense, climactic fight over the last few states as more states' conventions are held. There are a variety of event cards of varying strengths and times of usefulness, but there don't seem to be any real duds. Overall, I'm quite impressed with how well the game works and how smoothly it plays.

There are a few issues that need to be addressed, such as how many cards players should be dealt as the number of states left to contest decreases and the wording of a few cards, but the game seems to be really solid at its core and in most of its details. This could be an excellent published game some day with only a bit more polishing. I'm looking forward to playing again.