The Latest Crack for Gamers?

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Slate’s got an article up asking a burning question: why is there no video game version of the election process? (Via Hellblazer)

All of which leads to a question: The U.S. presidential campaign may be the first true election of the digital age, but it’s still missing one key ingredient. Where is the video-game version of Campaign 2004? Political simulations are practically ubiquitous in the gaming world, but you’re more likely to find a game that will let you stage a Spartacus-style slave revolt than one that will let you win the Iowa caucuses.

The author (Steven Johnson) gets ahold of the answer, but only in passing: “[i]t may have something to do with the fact that the actual day-to-day activities of being a politician don’t translate well to the game format.” Very true, especially your later point about AIs. This is why I think that a successful political game would tend towards being either a board or collectable card game (CCG); examples of the former include Junta, which features players attempting to take over a banana republic, or San Marco which seems (I’ve never even seen it, let alone played) to represent aristocratic manipulations. As for CCGs – we will undoubtedly eventually see something like what Johnson has described show up in a card game of some sort*: sometimes it feels like everything else has.

To be honest, I’m not entirely surprised that Johnson’s gotten the right idea but the wrong medium: electronic is the big thing – I love computer games myself – and it overshadows the less techy types. But outwitting the computer is one thing; outwitting three other guys around a table is something else, and it’s easier to cart around four decks of cards than four laptops. You don’t have to worry about batteries running down, either…

Moe

*Which might go something like this, although that was more properly roleplaying game geekdom than CCG geekdom (the two are not identical, as this handy guide makes clear).

9 thoughts on “The Latest Crack for Gamers?”

  1. I remember playing a game back in 1996 called “Dark Horse” where you campaigned first for your party’s nomination and then for the general election.
    You had several choices of actions either to answer a question or place an advertisement in key States with the result being either an increase/decrease in your popularity/money.
    I don’t know what became of the game but it was certainly fun while it lasted. Sort of like those simulators which give you the chance to balance the federal budget. 😉

  2. I saw one called “Republic: The Revolution” in Circuit Hamlet just today. Here’s a blurb:

    Following the fall of the mighty Soviet Union, dozens of autonomous countries spring from the crumbling remnants. It is into one of these, The Republic of Novistrana, that you enter the fray as a small time faction leader. Starting with nothing more than a single loyal supporter, a tiny secret HQ and a very small base of local support, you must build up a nationwide faction powerful enough to oust the president and rule the republic…by any means necessary.

    I have no idea whether it is any good, or whether the fist logo on the front is by BRUTE or a loving imitator.

  3. Phillip, Republic (which I haven’t played), is sort of a Vladimir Putin simulator. Most critics said it was above-average at best.
    Moe, it seems clear that the makers of the Sims should come up with an election pack. I’d buy the game for sure if I had to teach my Sim how to kiss babies and take bribes.

  4. There a few games that do go into politics, it’s not a very popular genre though.
    Shadow President, and Floor 13 are games about influencing a modern day government into power by all manner of dirty deeds. These are quite old games, a newer game, while not being about modern times and not solely concentraiting on politics is Pax Romana (which, as one would guess from the title, is about the Roman days).
    http://www.the-underdogs.org/theme.php?id=24 lists quite a few of these games. One should also note that most of these games are devoted to a very nasty form of politics. After all would you rather play a game where you are Carter, or would you rather play a game where you are Nixon? 🙂

  5. There was a game back in 1990 or so called “Hidden Agenda” (I think) by Broderbund, where you played the leader of a fictional Central American country trying to navigate your way between American and Soviet sponsorship, death squads, and similar fun stuff. I always managed to get myself killed in a coup.

  6. Of course, you could see the real race as a video game, and the Diebold issue as a LAN fight over whether you can use cheat codes. ALL YOUR VOTES ARE BELONG TO US.
    And then there’s God mode …

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