The whole campaigning, election and party system was really unique in a way that differentiated itself a lot from just simple Kingmaker and opened up a lot of design space for unique and interesting roles that went really well with the flavor. Like, there were just so many mechanics coming together in a way that, in my view, never detracted from the core gameplay: the party system itself, party PTs, public announcements, voter fraud and correspondingly the electoral commission, and probably more I'm forgetting.
The winner of Best Setup for 2018 was: