Votes for women. DEVIR

Seneca Falls, New York, July 1848. The reading of A Declaration of Sentiments sparked the fight for women’s suffrage, a struggle that would last over seventy years, reach every corner of the United States, and demonstrate both the strength and challenges of this social movement. Its goal? To guarantee a fundamental right for American women: the vote.

Designed by Tory Brown, this game can be enjoyed solo or with up to 4 players, aged 14 and up, in sessions of about 70 minutes. Votes for Women is an asymmetric game in which two sides clash in a political struggle to ratify or reject the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The suffragist side will pressure Congress to propose the Nineteenth Amendment and campaign to have 36 states ratify it. Meanwhile, the opposition will try to prevent Congress from proposing the amendment and, if that fails, ensure that at least 13 states reject it.

The main engine of the game is the cards, which can trigger events or distribute influence across the various states to pressure Congress. Turn by turn, players place influence cubes in different states. Once Congress considers the Nineteenth Amendment, states with 4 affirmative or negative votes are marked with a green tick or a red cross. Suffragists need to convince 36 states, while the opposition needs 13 states to reject it. Although the game is designed for one player to lead the opposition and one or two to lead the suffragists, Votes for Women includes components and rules to manage an Opobot, allowing for solo or cooperative play. The box also includes extensive historical material: a historical supplement with notes from the author, reproductions of telegrams, advertisements, legal documents, etc. In fact, one game component, the tokens used to reroll dice or bid for strategic cards, replicates the pins used at the time to show support or rejection of the initiative.

In summary, a must-have game for history lovers that highlights the feminist struggle to achieve something that today seems obvious: that both men and women can freely exercise their right to vote.