Many people, especially young people, believe that electoral politics is a waste of their time. When people think it makes a difference, they will vote—but many 18 to 29 year olds don’t believe that voting matters. We need a new approach to GOTV.
BOSS: Building Our Successful Society
Our solution is an engaging mobile game designed to effect society in a positive way. The game is called BOSS and is the culmination of years of collaboration among activists who have been working in the voting rights area.
How will a mobile game help get out the vote?
We need a new approach.
Years of working in the underserved neighborhoods of Michigan have informed us there are many underserved people who believe that electoral politics is a waste of their time. A game engages players and encourages learning by doing. We are creating an entertaining game that encourages voting.
Games allow players to act and explore.
Players experience consequences of actions and inactions. They learn to iterate until a problem is solved: learning by doing.
Players feel like winners.
They draw a direct connection between their actions and the outcome in a first-person experience.
“I did this.”
Young people don’t think voting matters.
A recent Pew study finds that people age 18 to 29 don’t believe that voting matters. Current voter engagement efforts are not reaching this population.
Young people are comfortable with technology.
Our target audience is tech savvy and regularly uses smartphones. A mobile game is a direct connection to these potential voters. Rates of gaming are high among people ages 18 to 30 and even higher among less affluent households.
Our Solution
We are creating a mobile game to empower voters. This approach will meet people where they are and make voting an accessible subject. By providing an enjoyable and engaging game delivering implicit political lessons we will enable nonvoters to feel empowered in their community through voting.
BOSS: Building Our Successful Society
BOSS Project Plan
We are currently looking for donors to fund a “proof of concept” version of BOSS. The game will be centered in an urban environment initially focusing on a specific neighborhood. The game will be a role playing style game ported and formatted for phones. The player will make choices for the characters which will determine the trajectory of the neighborhood and affect the welfare of the characters. While solving these problems that the characters have in their lives the player will be exposed to the power of civic engagement and voting specifically. As the trailer video describes we intend to show all sides of an issue. The initial problems the characters will be wrestling with will be shaped around being financially disadvantaged. The proof of concept game will be shaped to appeal to players in Michigan urban areas and the initial players will be recruited in Michigan.
Creation of full production version of the game will follow the proof of concept. The game intended for national exposure will be scaled up significantly.