Presidents Versus is an action-packed, fun-filled, 30-minute card game for 1-4 players. America is in peril, and the presidents – from George Washington to Barack Obama – have all come back together to save us! Playable options for the “Big Bad” they’re saving us from include a pandemic, dictators, monsters, aliens and more. But while the portal to the past was open, the villains of American history – from Benedict Arnold to Bull Connor – have come back to stop the presidents and ensure America’s downfall. The battle for our country is on!

Presidents Versus is a shamelessly Ameritrashy half-hour presidential rumble full of keywords, variable powers, tons of stuff from real history, light deckbuilding and (of course) dice by the fistful. Watch Thomas Jefferson and Jack Kennedy team up to take down Al Capone, while Abraham Lincoln and John Adams duke it out with J. Edgar Hoover. (Because there are villains on both sides of the law!) Then the presidents join forces in a Final Showdown with the Big Bad. In the end, whichever player has defeated the most villains and threats wins!

Coming to Kickstarter in Spring 2021 for Q4 2021 release!

This game is a reimplementation of an existing game we successfully launched on KS last year. This has been a passion project of mine for three years, and a lot of work and love have gone into it. With this reimplementation, we’re giving the game a bigger and more exciting theme, improving the graphics and adding new features to gameplay.

Note: Because this is a reimplementation, cards from the original game and the new game will not be compatible. There are some exciting new gameplay features that we can’t introduce without reimplementing.

The game will be offered in a Print and Play format. Without economies of scale, it’s difficult to offer hard copies, not to mention that supply chains are pretty insane because of the pandemic. HOWEVER! Once you have the digital file you’ll get for backing the game, there are many fine services that will print the cards for you at a very reasonable cost. Kickstarter recommends some of them, and there are lots of others out there.

But don’t be afraid to Print and Play, either! The great folks at the legendary Cheapass Games break down three ways to do it in this short and clear video. One of their methods is so simple, even the founder of Civic Forum Games has mastered it!

The only thing you’ll need to supply is some dice.

An amazing game like this really needs amazing art. We need your help to make this game an engrossing experience to play!

We have a great artist, David Furnal, who did all the art you see here and in the playthrough video. I’m still geeking out over it! Notice his attention to detail – every card is full of little flourishes that fill out the richness of the theme. The experience working with David on the art has been top-notch, his price is very reasonable, and he’s interested in working with us again to make Presidents Versus.

These images you see here are not the final product, but they’re close to final. (Why would we change the art when it’s so awesome?)

Here’s what you’ll get by backing Presidents Versus – all this for just $10!

Six game modes – each with different gameplay in the Final Showdown:

• Presidents versus Pandemic: A deadly plague is ravaging the U.S. population, and the biggest villains from American history want to make sure it keeps the country shut down! Rally the American presidents to capture the villains and then shut down the virus once and for all.
• Presidents versus Powermongers: Dictators like Vladamir Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei are out for blood, and they’ve got help from U.S. history’s worst villains. It’s up to the American presidents to send the villains back to history, then send the dictators back to their bunkers.
• Presidents versus Paranormal: Vampires, werewolves, specters and abominations are stalking the night, and villains from American history are protecting them. There ain’t no second chance against a thing with forty eyes. So who ya gonna call? The American presidents, of course!
• Presidents versus Paranoia: Shapeshifting aliens – pod people, ancient creatures from the ice, parasites who trekked to earth, you name it – are snatching American bodies, with help from you-know-who. Help the presidents bag the villains, then shoot the aliens back into space!
• Presidents versus Pariahs: Nazis and Commies – I hate these guys! Villains from American history weren’t the only fiendish foes who came through the door from the past. Time for the presidents to send all the historical heavies back to where – that is, when – they came from.
• Presidents versus Polyphemes: Kaiju are on the rampage – giant lizards, apes, robots, marshmallow men – and villains from our past are with them. The American presidents have to beat the villains, then show the kaiju that nobody steps on a church in Teddy Roosevelt’s town!

But wait! There’s more! Two expansions will also be available in the KS campaign:

Patriots Versus: You don’t have to be a president to be a champion! With this expansion, you’ll have a team of 24 non-presidential heroes from American history to help you save the day. Nathan Hale, Martin Luther King, Alexander Hamilton, Wyatt Earp, Harriet Tubman, Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Audie Murphy and more are ready to serve their country in its hour of need.

Protagonists Versus: Why should people who actually exist have all the fun? With this expansion, you’ll recruit 24 members of the Fictional-American community join the fight, including Hawkeye, John Henry, Jo March, Huck Finn and Jim, Henry Fleming, Atticus Finch, Ishmael, Hiawatha and Ichabod Crane.

The game supports 1-4 players. The core of the game is 24 presidents, divided up evenly among the players. At the beginning of the game, you select a Big Bad that’s trying to destroy America – the choices include a pandemic, dictators, monsters, aliens and more. Every turn, you draw five cards out of your deck and play them. Each president has a presidential power based on that president’s actual strengths (popularity, party building, policy leadership, integrity or maneuver). Presidents can also gang up to attack villains or recruit new cards into your deck. You’ll recruit cards representing support from other presidents (hello, Millard Fillmore!), constitutional provisions that give powers to the presidency, and other forces from American history. These support cards interact with keywords on your presidents and other game factors, giving you tactical choices that keep the game exciting without bogging it down.

The players use their attacks to capture 12 villains from American history. Then it’s time for a massive Final Showdown with the Big Bad that’s trying to destroy America, represented by a set of threat cards. The rules for the Final Showdown are different for each Big Bad – fighting off a pandemic and fighting off monsters require different tactics! If the Big Bad defeats your presidents, it wins; if you defeat it first, the player with the most captured villains and Big Bad threat cards wins. So there’s pressure to be capturing villains for the whole game, but victory still hangs on that Final Showdown!

If you want, a free version of the rules and cards from the original game that we’re reimplementing are posted on BGG, so you can download and try that out for yourself! Presidents Versus will introduce new elements, but the overall gameplay – and the unique vibe of the game – will be similar.

Much more info, including a full playthrough video, coming soon!

Thanks for your support!