White House Race

[slashtacular]

Every once in a while, I've considered and discussed the possibilities of creating a web-based version of my infamous White House Race series of computer games. (For those of you not in the know, they're mock political simulations about the presidential race in a fictional country. You are paired with a "celebrity" vice president like Ozzy

Comments

[slashtacular]

Some states might have a "base" party alignment (as many parties as you want), while others are going to be more contentious.

I'm hoping that this will come out based on the states' beliefs. States with strong beliefs one way or the other, like CA or TX, are going to be a lot more receptive towards extreme candidates, whereas others with more moderate beliefs could be won by candidates from either side of the aisle. I don't think there's a need to include an explicit bias towards one party or another.

Besides, I'm seeing that traditional party dynamics won't necessarily play out. Do you want to have the Republican party nominate two of the most liberal wackos out there? No problem! Or, do you want to run a race without a Republican or Democratic party at all, and take over the country as the Free the Sheep Party? Go for it! It's a free country!

Overall, my vision is to basically provide a blank slate to players, and allow them a lot of freedom in developing a winning strategy. I feel that locking certain states into certain parties would really take away from that.

You're talking to someone whose presidential vote never counted because he always lives/d in a Democratic state.

This is very true, but again, you have to consider the gameplay implications if your ability to win states depends so heavily on your choice of president, which is a single choice you make at the beginning of the game and can't really be fixed. Maybe you spend the first 10-20 rounds with just a president and then pick a vice president after that, giving you the opportunity to try a different angle.

Also, what about creating primaries?

What about them? :) They could be fun, but I'd have to be sure that primaries would offer some benefits without dragging out the game for too long. After all, consider how long primaries dragged out the real election.

[thevortex]

I don't think there's a need to include an explicit bias towards one party or another.

Fair enough. Perhaps you want to put more into the idea of some states leaning toward extreme beliefs in general (regardless of party), and other states preferring moderate views...

Maybe you spend the first 10-20 rounds with just a president and then pick a vice president after that, giving you the opportunity to try a different angle.

Great idea!

[slashtacular]

Perhaps you want to put more into the idea of some states leaning toward extreme beliefs in general (regardless of party), and other states preferring moderate views...

That's been the idea all along. :)

Keep the ideas coming!