Pre-order Political Arena here (and don't forget to check out some of our sweet, sweet merchandise).
Merchandise will ship by early next year while Political Arena's Early Access will begin next fall.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
We made a CARTOON out of Chuck Schumer
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 03:35:44 AM
Sorry about the subject – it was our best imitation of an NRSC email. How’d we do?
But, no, really: we made a Chuck Schumer cartoon. Look:
No, the Marvel Multiverse isn’t branching in a completely unexpected direction (Super Chuck! With the power to have Joe Manchin not return his calls!). Rather, we’re hard at work on Political Arena’s politician creator. While there won’t be real life politicians pre-loaded into Political Arena, we’re rendering a diverse group of living, breathing politicos to make sure we nail the game’s style across a variety of ethnicities, body types, ages and so forth. Below is a selection of some of the elected officials – past and present – that our artists have taken a crack at. First person to correctly ID all lawmakers will get to be a shady power lobbyist in an in-game event:
Representation matters. It also matters that you can fire up Political Arena and create some kind of nightmarish Mitch McConnell/Raúl Grijalva hybrid.
Political Arena production update and a wee civics checklist
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 03:18:53 PM
Hello! I thought I’d take a break from pouring all our resources into getting Frederica Wilson’s hats just right to update you on our efforts.
Production Update
I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting in your CPU's Intel.
While we’re technically only pouring 87.4% of our resources into perfecting Frederica Wilson’s hats, we are making strides in other areas, too!
Right now we’re toiling away on Political Arena’s bill mechanics. The above GIF is our work-in-progress legislative voting UI. Among other things, we’d like to have the option for votes to unfold (relatively) slowly so players can see who is on the fence and negotiate with last-minute holdouts – or be a holdout themselves. While the names in the current mockup aren’t hyperlinked, you will be able to pull up each lawmaker’s “page,” see their relevant information and negotiate with them.
What do you think? One user on our Discord smartly suggested that we color-code lawmakers based on their likely support. Pop into our Discord or shoot us a note.
And Now A Word About Our Societal Collapse
So our politics are…pretty bleak right now. There are a lot of people and systems out there that deserve your anger, but truth be told, the villains and their tactics haven’t changed much these last few years. We have, however, noticed a considerable lack of self-reflection and inventorying over how we can all better combat said villainy. Data suggests that even folks who closely follow politics and are desirous of change are flunking Proactive Citizenship 101. There are a lot of things we should be doing and minding – too many to list here – but here are several:
Make sure you vote in every election, insofar as your circumstances permit. Outrageously, a lot of people are prevented from voting, whether due to onerous work/life commitments that our election laws don’t make allowances for (often purposely), or laws specifically aimed at keeping certain types of folks from the polls. However, if you have the time and access to vote but don’t, you’re only contributing to the problem. Full stop.
Familiarize yourself with your municipal, state and federal officials – and their opponents. Incumbency and its electoral advantages are one of the undersung drivers of … problems. If you’re just ticking the box of a down-ballot primary candidate because they’re the incumbent, you may well be keeping a monster in office – or a driver of positive change out of office.
It’s a big wide judiciary out there. You know the Supreme Court wields tremendous influence over our society, but did you know that around 99.99% of federal court cases aren’t heard by the high court? Make sure you’re familiar with how the federal judiciary works, and be sure to follow lower court nominations – they’re often pushed through with little debate or attention. Today’s Third Circuit nominee with questionable views on the 4th Amendment may be tomorrow’s rage-inducing Supreme Court justice.
Make room in your media diet for local news. Local government usually has the most immediate and noticeable impact on our lives (roads, schools, trigger laws, etc), but very few people follow it closely enough. Moreover, most of the national developments you’re likely mad about probably grew out of years-long, coordinated efforts at the municipal and state level. Consider subscribing to your local news outlet, whether on web or in print. Also consider contributing to local non-profit news organizations, such as The Texas Tribune, MinnPost, The Nevada Independent and/or your local NPR affiliate. The next time you want to take to Twitter to rant about the media, consider instead giving to these organizations. It’ll be a much more productive use of your time.
Want To Hear Me Ramble Even More?
I had the pleasure of appearing on The Great Battlefield, a political tech podcast hosted by NGP founder Nathaniel Pearlman. Our hour-plus conversation covered everything from Political Arena’s gameplay to why I think it will be an important piece of journalism to how our team hopes to feed ourselves doing this. I don’t think I totally biffed it.
---
Until next time, stay thoughtfully angry -- but do give yourself some time away from doom-scrolling the news. We’re running a marathon, not a race.
-Eliot
Political Arena News! Higher Ground Labs! Production Updates! SXSW! Embarrassing Mistakes!
almost 2 years ago
– Fri, Apr 29, 2022 at 05:13:01 PM
Here's the skinny on everyone's favorite flag pin and parliamentary dysfunction simulator!
Higher Ground Labs!
In exciting news, Wayside Press, our company behind Political Arena, has joined Higher Ground Labs’ 2022 Accelerator cohort. HGL is a political tech incubator that has helped foster and develop some of the most crucial political technology of the last decade. If someone you’ve never met has ever personally texted you on behalf of Elizabeth Warren, it’s partially Higher Ground Labs’ fault.
As we’ve continued our mission of bringing politics to video games, the deluge of inbound interest from political and media groups has made it abundantly clear that we’re also bringing video games to politics. HGL will be an invaluable ally in this unexpected ambassadorial work! You can read more about HGL’s 2022 cohort here.
Production Update
If Political Arena were a house, we’d be at the point in its construction where the foundation and exterior are nearly complete. However, it’s the pipes, electrical, and other non-visible systems that make a house more than just a lean-to with drapes, display cabinets of family china and subterranean storage spaces for teens to make-out in. But, hey, Political Arena is starting to look like a house, and that is still so cool! Let’s order takeout, sit on cardboard boxes and pretend we have a real dining room! Is everyone ok with the pad see ew medium spicy?
Still, Political Arena is first and foremost a simulation sandbox and it’s the series of tubes that‘s going to make this house a home. With that in mind, we’ve been finishing up our first passes of the game’s core visuals and are increasingly focusing on the process of building out the simulation.
One of the final bits of “exterior work” is our Oval Office. We went for an Obama-meets-Biden look, mainly because Trump’s Oval Office was such an 80s throwback that it strayed too far from recent presidential interior design sensibilities. What do you think? What are we missing? Do we include a Churchill bust that rotates in and out depending on which party is in power? Let us know by popping into our Discord, writing us an email or tweeting at us.
On the simulation/wiring end, we’ve been building out PA’s bill/vote mechanics. The initial Early Access/Alpha/etc version of PA will probably launch with a lightweight legislative system. This will likely feature cyclical stuff like budgets and a handful of current issue bills that will randomly be brought up for consideration (rather than more in-depth stuff like committees and each NPC working on and proposing their own bills -- those will be released in later Early Access updates).
That said, we want to imbue the day-one Early Access game with some real-world politics, because it’s the inclusion of all the stuff you don’t read about in textbooks that makes Political Arena so special. To that end, we’re working on day-of vote negotiations, where players can, um, fulfill their wildest Joe Manchin fantasies and negotiate with holdouts to get them into the “aye” column.
SXSW
We had a great time hosting a panel on politics and video games at this year’s South By Southwest Festival in Austin (also the hometown of our production partners, Farbridge!).
While South by Southwest can sometimes be a little word-soupy -- panels on how Web3 will impact the future of hamster cage wood shavings, noshing on free tacos at the Salesforce innovation pavilion while someone tries to sell you on a metaverse REIT, and so forth -- the fact is that we’re a little word soup-y, too: Blending video games and a world best known for jowly septuagenarians in farm jackets and too much TV makeup? Maximum SXSW word soup! To that end, it was a thrill to meet so many other people making games that matter. There was also a strong contingent of folks doing awesome and innovative work in civics. Jokes aside, we had a blast.
Shout out for Kahlief Adams (or "Kah-zilla" as he is now affectionately known) for literally dominating our SXSW panel
To Conclude
The songwriter and humorist Kinky Friedman (the greatest Jew to ever come out of Texas -- second only to my own mother) once ran a campaign for governor of Texas with the slogan, "How Hard Could It Be?"
Creating a video game about politics: How hard could it be? Well, we’re doing it, but it’s not without unforeseen bugs and challenges, like this one below where you click on the Oval Office and it launches a debate. Whoops.
That said, we’re making great progress and are as excited as ever to build a fun-as-hell, immersive and -- yes -- addictive video game that will empower anyone and everyone to experience -- and shape -- the politics of the world’s most powerful country.
‘til next time,
Eliot
The New York Times Profiles Political Arena!
about 2 years ago
– Fri, Feb 11, 2022 at 08:16:24 PM
[T]hink SimCity meets The Oregon Trail — with a little Grand Theft Auto thrown in...
...Nelson wants to educate the masses about the ins and outs of how their government really works. And entertain them, too...
...a scrappy team of game designers, marketers and grizzled industry veterans. They puzzled through how the gameplay should work, poring over storyboards and seeking input from hard-core political junkies and strategy-game fans.
