I have been working on a game design that has voting by the players as one of the most important mechanisms. I was wondering which games allow the players to vote, and how they go about it?
Without boring you with all the technical details, the game takes place in a village somewhere in Europe in 100 BC (this could change obviously). Each player is an important member of the community, trying to make it big through commerce within the village and with the outside. Players make money through fishing, hunting, agriculture, and later through more sophisticated production approaches.
The destiny of the village is decided by the 8 village elders, each of which is a master at a particular craft. Elders are represented by cards. Through their achievements, players will gain the support of elders, which means they place the elder card in front of them. Elders will move around as the game evolve. Each elder provides an advantage to the player who controls him, and the advantage is always related to the elder's craft.
Every round, an event card is drawn; the game describes a particular situation and involves a choice that must be decided through a vote. Each elder is worth one vote, so the player with the most elders has the advantage. For instance, the card might suggest putting a quota on fishing, or impose a levy on the export of jewelry.
One of the things I'm trying to do with this game, is give the feeling that the village is prospering through the players actions and decisions; that the game is both cooperative and competitive. Players are rivals, but they still have to cooperate because no single player can enforce any decision by himself.
The board will represent the village (with buildings and empty spaces for future construction) and the surrounding area (forest, fields, hills, sea). There are 4 other villages/cities, one at each corner (drawn much smaller in scale) that the players can import their products to and import from. 2 of these are neighbouring villages. The other 2 are far away cities, one accross the sea, the other over mountains; the cities are inaccessible initially, until the players acquire a boat or a caravan.
The players start each with a different job (fisherman, hunter, herder, farmer) with ownership of a production area (water, forest, field). This will allow them to produce food that they can sell for cash. As the game progresses, players acquire more production areas, diversify and start making more sophisticated products. Each production area requires a worker. Workers make up the population of the village, though not all of them are employed.
The game spans a few years, and every round is a season, broken up in phases. After the production phase, players get the opportunity to sell their products within the village (marketplace phase) and through exportation, the latter being more profitable. The rule here, is that the villagers (workers) must be fed before the players can sell to the outside. Players must sell food to the villagers at a fixed price, until each worker has had food. All players must contribute the same amount, but if a player did not produce enough food, then the others must cover for him. The marketplace also allows the players to do trade with each other (through an auction mechanism).
Workers who have not been fed leave (die?), lowering the pool of potential workers. If all workers have been fed, the population increases. This sets an interesting situation, where the players' production must keep up with the growth of the population.
After the marketplace, is the time for export. In turn, each player can sell as many items as desired to a single village or city. Each city/village has different needs, so the price varies from place to place, as well as the specific demand for any given item. Next to the village/city is a list of needed item, with the price and the maximum than can be sold in one round (for example, a city might buy up to 4 units of meat, 3 units of gold, etc...). The first player gets a clear advantage, but he won't be starting the next round. Unsold production must be put in storage facilities, or is lost.
More sophisticated production is more profitable, but requires the transformation of basic material. This basic material can be produced by the player, bought in the marketplace, or imported. Event cards give a sense of reality to the game: unexpected events like plague, war, locust, etc...
The voting mechanism (through the elders) is a way for the players to influence the "rules" of the game. Players will support decisions that favor their type of business, or hinder other. Each elder is owned by the player that most represents the elder's interest. Some interests are general: an elder might favor the player with the most real estate, or with the most money. Others are more specific: there will be an elder for each of the 4 basic crafts (fisherman, hunter, herder, farmer), and they will favor the stronger player in that area. At least one elder will favor the underdog (just to make sure no player has all 8). I'm trying to think of a way to make sure each player has at least one elder.
Every spring, the elders will elect a village chief (the player with the most elder control, though it cannot be the same 2 years in a row). The chief has several powers and responsibilities. He acts as a tie-breaker during any regular vote. I will also define some limitations to his actions during his mandate.
There is a lot more to it, but these are the basics of the top of my head. The only thing missing is a victory condition. Maybe victory points, which would be awarded everytime a player makes a sale, wins a vote, becomes chief, etc... it would be interesting to reward actions that are not necessarily the most profitable ones in the short term. The game could end after a specific number of rounds, or when the village achieves a certain size.