Votes for Women Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Votes for Women, a historical game published by Fort Circle Games. Votes for Women puts players in the shoes of activists fighting for women's suffrage.

Imagine a society calling itself democratic and not allowing over half of its population to vote. It’s an outright injustice, and yet living within that historical period may have yielded a very different attachment to the idea. It was how things were. The founding document, considered infallible by many, was (and still is) steeped in blind bigotry and antiquated practices. Its influence seeped into the core of our existence.

Even today we’re constantly reminded of the struggles of the oppressed trying to gain a foothold. To live. To breathe. To be free. Votes for Women revisits the suffrage movement’s struggle to carve out space for education, action, and change. It’s designed by activist Tory Brown and utilizes a card-driven system to simulate the tug-of-war struggle of the democratic process. It’s steeped in history and yet it speaks directly to the conflicts of the present.

Votes for Women allows players to take on the role of the women’s suffrage movement or the political opposition. It can be played solo or co-op against a deck of cards called the Oppobot or can be played competitively. The historical scope ranges from 1848 to 1920 and progresses over six rounds of play. Suffragettes seek to gain congressional support and votes from thirty-six states, while the Opposition seeks to curtail congressional support and lockdown dissent in thirteen states.

The main board features six regions within the US and their individual states. Players take turns playing a single card which provides them with options to swing support to their cause. These may provide options to increase influence in a particular region, specific states, or even powerful effects that benefit the current round or end game voting. Each round sees six cards from a hand of seven being played. The final card carries forward to the next