Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Congratulations on your candidacy in The Primary! Outwit your opponents during a presidential primary election by traveling the country, hosting rallies and fundraisers, advertising, and gaining the favor of powerful Super PACs.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Action Queue
Place actions into an ordered queue that resolves now or on later turns.
Simultaneous Action Selection
Choose actions secretly or concurrently before revealing them together.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Solo / Solitaire Game
Provide rules and objectives designed for a single player.
Read the full game description
Congratulations on your candidacy in The Primary! Outwit your opponents during a presidential primary election by traveling the country, hosting rallies and fundraisers, advertising, and gaining the favor of powerful Super PACs. Regions across the country will vote during the eleven rounds of the game and you will have to predict your opponents’ strategies in order to earn the most delegates and win the game! Good luck, candidates! How To Play The Primary is played over 11 rounds, each with 4 phases: News, Action, Vote, and Organize. In the News phase, 1 News card is drawn and its effect is applied to the current round. You may be forced to move, get an extra action, or gain influence, etc - be prepared to adjust your strategy! In the Action phase, players select 4 Action cards from their hand and commit them face down in a queue. Will your opponents try to swoop in and steal an election? Will they go all-out in an attempt to win over the Super PAC? Choose wisely! Once all players have committed their 4 Action cards, they take turns executing their actions one card at a time. Bus and Plane cards provide some flexibility and the Positive Ad / Negative Ad cards can be used anywhere! During the Vote phase, 1 or more regions may vote (or none at all - a nice break from the stress of campaigning.) The player with the most influence in the regions voting wins delegates, getting one step closer to victory! The player with the most delegates at the end of the game wins! Description from the publisher