The FT launches Election Game

The Financial Times (FT) last week launched its Election Game, an interactive model of the US electoral college where players campaign against other FT readers in the race for the White House. The publisher says the game is available to both subscribers and non-subscribers.

The Election Game simulates the challenges and decisions that candidates face as they navigate the electoral map, added the FT. Players take on the role of a presidential candidate with a budget of resources, competing to outsmart their rivals across the nation’s battleground states.

Oliver Roeder, FT senior data journalist, said: “When they created the electoral college 240 years ago, the founding fathers accidentally created a fascinating game — with rules and rewards, strategies and tactics. Allowing readers to play this game for themselves, and against themselves, reveals the richness and subtleties of American presidential campaigns.”

The FT says its Election Game is a part of the its in-depth coverage of the 2024 US presidential election, which also includes the twice-weekly US Election Countdown newsletter, live poll tracker, and monthly FT-Michigan Ross poll.

The FT has outlined how the Election Game works below:

You are running for president. Your political opponents are other FT readers. You’ll face them in a series of one-on-one contests. You are competing in 10 states, where polling shows tight races. Each has its own prize of electoral votes, with 100 total up for grabs. Beyond these states, the race is deadlocked — triumph in the battlegrounds and you’ll win the White House.

You have 100 credits to spend. Think of them as campaign resources: money, staff, time. Deploy them however you wish. Your opponents will have done the same. Whoever spends the most in a state or district wins its electoral votes. Whoever wins the most electoral votes wins the election. You can run as many times as you like, adjusting your approach in response to the strategies of other players.