My Hobby

I Design Games

At work the other day I was asked whether, when I get home in the PM, I kick back and "watch a show".  I started to say 'no'--I actually don't--then changed the subject; that's because describing what I do in my spare time is a challenge.

I design games.  I honestly can't think of anything more fun these days than tweaking the rules to a game, playtesting them, then repeating this until the design really shines.

Even for game designers, I'm unusual.  Most of us design video games, whereas I've settled on boardgames.  And, yes, I am published.

Especially exciting for me are games that simulate history.  My brother's and my current design, that we've been working on for about two years, is a simulation of the 2016 presidential election.   Previously, we'd finalized a sister project: the Obama/Romney contest in 2012.

The two year period we've spent on 2016 has seen us play our game nearly every day.  We've become so familiar with it that it feels like we're speaking a language that nobody else knows.  "Mojo", for example, refers to a currency, you might say, that each side can own--maximum four per player.  Mojo is spent to Fundraise in any one of five regions (moving east to west: East, South, Rustbelt, Frontier and West).

The 59 cards in the main deck have titles like Team Clinton (Blue's ability to use campaign surrogates twice per turn, rather than only once), Supreme Court List (Red removes Blue support in the South and Frontier), and One of the People (either player can Fundraise each round of play without paying Mojo).

Here's a selection of other cards from the main and News Cycle decks:

Hard to get this played, but a doozy.

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A minor card, but RCs are full at '4'.

Debates are powerful, but treacherous.

Will Blue play 'Putin Bromance' first?

Key card for Red.

Exactly how do I handle the ennui of revisiting the 2016 election?  Because my job places me under the Hatch Act's prohibition against direct campaigning--especially from work (for example: "Vote for Snodgrass, he's better than Tupman!"), I can't always say what I feel, politically.  I can study, interpret and illustrate, and that's what I do here.

Plus, my brother and I plan a 2020 election game.  It'll be much easier to learn, for those who'd like to check out our designs.  2012 will be the intermediary game: slightly more complex; and 2016 will be the most challenging.  In 2016, for example, the Red player can hijack the flow of events with a Media Domination play of his Candidate card (sound familiar?).

Is the mapboard different for each election?  We haven't revisited 2012 yet.  It did have a different map.  For example: Iowa was easier for the Blue player to win; Virginia was easier for Red.  Likewise, the issues were Jobs, Gas Prices, Protest, and National Debt (most-to-least important); in 2016 it's Character, Jobs, Protest, and Immigration.  How will we know when we're done?  We'll see.

Mapboard section