Die Macher

Die Macher is a strategy board game designed by Karl-Heinz Schmiel and first published by Hans im Gluck in 1986, simulating a West German federal election in which three to five players take the role of political parties competing across a sequence of regional state elections. Each round represents a different German state, and players spend resources to deploy grassroots campaigners, shape their party's platform, buy media influence and build national party membership, with victory points awarded for winning individual state elections, controlling media, growing membership and aligning platforms with shifting public opinion. A full game runs about four hours and is considered demanding to learn, with reviewers describing it as one of the most sophisticated strategy games on the market for its intricate mechanics and detailed rulebook. The original 1986 edition covered only the states of West Germany; a substantially revised 1998 edition added the states of the former East Germany and a fifth competing party, and was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres. Valley Games later issued a 2006 edition with language-independent components, keeping the game available to English-speaking players decades after its first release.