Convention, as you might guess from the title, is a political game. Sort of. To call it the political version of Careers would be unfair. But no doubt about it, the game owes a great deal to Careers. For example, the board has an outer track, in which you roll two dice to move, and various inner tracks - here called Caucuses - that branch in and back (like the Careers careers) in which you roll only one die to move. Like Careers, Convention has two stacks of cards, and though they have different names here, they serve the exact same function as the Opportunity and Experience cards from Careers - one allows you to move to various Caucus entrances, the other lets you move a certain numberof squares (from 1 to 4) instead of rolling.

And yet, there are more than enough differences to make it its own unique game.

For one thing, you're not trying to fill your success formula, you're trying to get delegates. Get enough of them, and you win your party's nomination...and the game. (You can play something else if you want to actually try to run for President)

You win or lose delegates by landing on various outside track squares - the delegates are the money in the game, and like Monopoly, you always pick up 20 for passing "go", in this case the "Ballot" square. Or you can "enter" a Caucus track and, if you land on the "win" square within that track (this is where you really need those "experience" cards), you get the Caucus card (California, New York, etc.) and the delegates for that Caucus (from 65 to 100).

Delegates, however, can be fickle. One of the coolest aspects to the game is that there are a finite number of delegates, and once the "bank" is out of them, all delegates won are taken from other players! Delegates lost are returned to the "bank" and are used first when someone wins them again. Additionally, other players can enter a Caucus that you've already won and if they land on that "win" square, they steal those Caucus delegates from you. Of course you can re-enter that Caucus yourself and maybe steal them back again.

Having a lot of delegates in your corner is a good thing. However, when you have them is even more important. Delegates, you see, only do you good when aBallot is called. Then and only then do you officially add up your delegates to see who has the most. A Ballot can only happen by landing on the ballot square (of which there is only one) by exact count, or by playing a "Ballot" card (part of the "Opportunity" deck). So even if you have way more delegates than the other players, it's useless if you can't get a ballot vote taken.

There are cards that cancel Ballots, and they're quite useful when you're behind, as the winner of a ballot gets delegates from every other player. Wina ballot with more than half of all the delegates and you win the game.

Another cool little part to this game is Demonstrating, which, when done successfully, allows you to collect delegates from every player, and, more importantly, allows you to immediately move to the outside square of your choice (the other way to call a Ballot). To Demonstrate successfully you must survive three full turns without losing any delegates on those turns, either to other players or to the "bank". You simply announce before your turn that you're Demonstrating, then take your normal turn. The scorekeeper keeps track of your next three turns (the scoresheet has a section that makes this quite easy) and once done, successfully or otherwise, you can do it again, as manytimes as you like. But beware, an unsuccessful Demonstration forces you to "pay" delegates to all other players. Other tidbits: A Favorite Son advantage when a ballot is called; a Dark Horse square to give the player in last a chance; Primary squares that allow thePrimary "winners" to collect delegates (like Monopoly rent) when other players land on them. And then there is the Smoke Filled Room. A one-way track that's essentially aHail Mary play for those who feel like they have no chance of winning. Once entered, it takes two full turns to advance to the space that essentially allows you to gamble on the throw of one die for half of everyone else's unclaimed delegates (not the Caucus ones). Of course if you roll badly you'reout of the game and your delegates return to the "bank." Made by Games Research in 1960, it's not just a political game, it's a funpolitical game - just light enough, and yet still complex and satisfying. Every bit as good as Careers and maybe even better. Definitely a winner if you can find it.