Political Arena Merchandise!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 01:41:31 PM

SWAG!!!!

WE HAVE POLITICAL ARENA SWAG! For those of you who have already backed our campaign, you’ll be able to purchase any of these items after the campaign ends (you’ll get an email about it). If there are any folks in your world who might want to support us but aren’t super into video games, we also now have a reward tier that is just a piece of Political Arena merchandise:

And! In a bit of housekeeping news, we are now a featured campaign on Kickstarter! 

And be sure to check out my appearance on Cheddar News yesterday:

Stay democratic, people!

Eliot

An apology.
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 02:54:06 PM

We're Sorry.

I’d like to issue an apology — an apology to the wizarding community.

As many of you know, Political Arena’s strong anti-wizard platform has been a real point of contention -- it’s been a cornerstone of our product rollout but has come under fierce attack.

Well, it turns out these are hard times for wizards. You would think wand-based spellcasting would be a COVID-friendly activity ... but no. It was reported recently that New Zealand has fired its official wizard. This news broke as our campaign launched. The two are obviously related.

We’d like to make amends. So to those of you who have supported our campaign at the $40 level or above (and those who may yet, still), we’re pleased to announce that one of the pieces of the Character Customization Pack will be … a wizard hat.

“But you said no wizards! This is hypocrisy!” you cry. Technically, the word for “hypocrisy” in politics is “our position evolved.” And also, technically, you won’t be able to be a wizard in Political Arena. You’ll just be able to dress like one. Let’s not fight, OK? Just peep how awesome your aspiring senator will look sporting this floppy conical titfer:

 Dope! Think about it. Soon, you’ll be able to ascend to the highest reaches of American power dressed like someone fluent in the properties of knotweed and sparrow entrails! Whoa!

Stay spooooooky.

-Eliot

Political Arena in the Washington Post!!!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 09:06:58 AM

Folks! Happy weekend! We're pretty excited:  The Washington Post just dropped a major feature on Political Arena: 

We'll keep the update at that. As always, please share news of Political Arena and its Kickstarter with any video game and/or political diehards in your orbit. Every little bit counts --  plus you can brag to your friends that you knew about Political Arena before the Washington Post! ;)  

Have a great weekend. Make (mostly) safe choices.

- Eliot

Political Arena Details!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 08:39:15 PM

Happy Wednesday! Did you know that it’s ALSO the middle of the work week in Congress? Crazy! The thing is, in Congress, the work week started yesterday and ends tomorrow.

We need your help!

We are one-third of the way through our campaign, but we’re falling a bit behind in our funding pace.

Please, PLEASE send along a link to our Kickstarter campaign to people you think would be interested in being involved. Even if they don’t like video games, they can still send their copy of Political Arena to anyone they know. Political Arena won't happen unless those of us involved from the get-go spread the word!

Game details!!! 

By now you’ve probably seen Political Arena’s awesome launch trailer, but there are a lot of little details we wanted to highlight:

You can assign your politician a pretty interesting range of traits and background info:

"Politics? So Soon After George Washington’s Death?"

In addition to having a lot of money and opinions, Silicon Valley megadonor Chet McNally has a super PAC titled, “Guys Named Matt for Change.” 

He has also donated to some other interesting causes:

Michigan is a singe land mass. This was a mistake. Our apologies to the good, hardy and patriotic people of the UP (and northeastern Minnesota). Making games is hard --- and also expensive! Help us tear Michigan asunder by sharing our Kickstarter!

NJ Governor Angelo Ortiz is not on good terms with his ex, who seems to have ruined his Thanksgiving:

 The sad plant behind me is “dried grass” I bought from Ikea for several dollars. Can you trust someone who purchases maybe-plastic grass from a meatballs-and-futon purveyor? Woof.

The Republican Senate Minority Leader is the perfectly-named "Hilton Lyons." Our politician generator was working overtime when it spat that one out.

And, lastly, this headline:

Political Arena Kickstarter Week 2: The Crowdsourcening
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 06:45:44 AM

G’day one and all (except for the wizards)!

This is a very important week! If you haven’t shared the Kickstarter link with friends and family, please do! If your loved ones are more visually inclined, send them the YouTube link for our trailer.

Or, send them links to the growing amount of press attention we’re getting! Like these!

Political Arena nabbed the “something worthy of your attention,” spot in Axios’ highly curated gaming newsletter (not bad considering we were listed above news about Animal Crossing).

According to Mic, “Capitol Hill Just Got Its Own Version Of The Sims”

MarketWatch seems to agree with that sentiment, calling us “a political version of SimCity.”

Unlike President Biden’s diminishing budget, our Kickstarter campaign continues to grow! Do us a solid and give us a heads-up if you see Joe Manchin coming our way.

Best,

Eliot