Mary Nottingham Wallace

MEDT 7485
Game Analysis
Title of Game: Win the White House
Game Developer/Studio: Filament Games for icivics
Game Genre: Simulation
Audience: The game allows the user to choose their educational preference (elementary,
middle or high school) before starting to play. The game is intended for students in grades 4-12.
Learning Objectives and Standards Addressed:
Social Studies:
SSCG8.a Describe the organization, role, and constituencies of political parties.
SCG8.b Describe the nomination and election process.
SCG8.c Examine campaign funding and spending.
SSCG8.d Analyze the influence of media coverage, campaign ads, and public opinion polls
ITSE Standards:
3C Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to
create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions
3D Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing
ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
Context: The current version of Win the White House was released on March 1st, 2016 in, IOS,
Android, and Web based platforms. The game is free as it was funded by the Bill and Melinda
Gates and Hearst Foundations. Since icivics was started in 2009 by Supreme court Justice
Sandra Day OConner, they have created more than 20 free digital games.
Goals and Rules of the Game: The goal of the game is to win the presidency. The rules are
procedural and they cannot be violated.
Storyline/Narrative: In Win the White House, you get to manage your own presidential
campaign by strategically raising funds, polling voters, launching media campaigns, and making
personal appearances. You must pay attention to the Electoral College map as you battle with
your opponent over electoral votes and popular support.
Number of Players: This is a one player game and students compete against the computer.
Spaces or Environments: This game takes place along the campaign trail. While the locations
change, the player does not navigate the space.
Core Mechanics: The main verb in this game is choose. You must choose which states to
fundraise in, which issues to focus on in your television ads, etc. The direction of the game is
dictated by the choices you make.

Description of Gameplay: Players must strategically raise money, poll voters, launch media
campaigns, and make personal appearances, all while keeping a close eye on the map as they
travel from state to state battling for popular support and electoral votes from the primaries
through the general election. The game begins with players customizing their candidates
appearance, home state, party, slogan, and platform issues. Players must present policy
solutions and defend positions on their selections. In addition to correctly explaining an issue,
players are challenged with making policy proposals that align with the partys position. Next,
the user runs in a party primary. If they win that election, they go on to a 10-week campaign
season, during which they must decide where to get campaign funding and how to spend it on
either public appearances, televised advertisements, or polling. If gamers prioritize their
spending appropriately and focus on campaigning in the right states, they will likely win the
general election, accumulating enough electoral votes to beat out their opponent (the
computer).
Audiovisuals: The audiovisual aspect of this game is excellent. Based on the level you choose at

the beginning, the graphics are varied. However, they are appropriate to the age of the person
playing. The music is complementary to gameplay and it changes as the environments change.
The sound is appropriate. There is an option to turn the sound and background music off.
Progression and Levels: In Win the White House, the player is forced to follow a certain
progression. I feel that is appropriate for this game because the political process in the United
States does have mandatory steps you must complete before moving on. The level of difficulty
(chosen at the beginning) is differentiated by the tasks the candidate must complete as well as
the depth of knowledge relating to the campaign issues. The environment of the games
changes on its own to guide the player to the correct action.
Academic Content: Academic content is a means to the end in this game. You must understand
the concepts so that you can make the correct choices and thus win the presidency. The
needed subject matter is presented in multiple forms including verbal and written formats. The
background knowledge needed to play this game is minimal and certainly what you would
expect an American fourth grader to know.
Cognitive Processes Required: Win the White requires the player to utilize several different
levels of Blooms Taxonomy in order to meet the objective of the game. Users must analyze
campaign issues and make a decision as to which of these they will support, and which they will
oppose. This plan is then implemented or applied in game play.. Evaluation is required when
calculating the amount of electoral votes each state has and comparing that with the cost of
campaigning there. After each simulated week, the game player must critique ( a form of
evaluation) their strategy as the map is updated with the most recent changes in polling
numbers and trends based upon the users choices.
Learning Theories Embodied: Win the White House was designed from the constructivist
perspective which believes the learner takes an active role in constructing his own
understanding rather than receiving it from someone else. Learners interpret information
from their unique personal perspective based upon their previous experiences. They learn

through observation, processing and interpretation by personalizing the information into

knowledge unique to them.
Instructional Strategies: There are many effective instructional strategies incorporated into
Win the White House. The user is engaged through hands on learning and a constant challenge.
Scaffolding strategies employed include showing visible signs of learning as the player advances
through the game, and the fact that early choices matter less that those made later in the
simulation. Assessment is built into the game through the use of what Filamant, the game
developer refers to as Elegant Design. Recording game completion or progress is the simplest
form of assessment. Elegant Design implies that the mechanics of the game are so tightly
coupled to the learning objective that completing the experience demonstrates knowledge of
the subject matter (Duffy & Cunningham 1996).
Overall Evaluation: I played the game Win the White House at the middle level of difficulty,
which I feel is appropriate for the students I teach. The game engaged me immediately as I got
to create my character and choose the campaign issues I wanted to focus on. One strength of
this particular game is the real world feeling that is created through the use of an authentic
Electoral College map as well as the relevant issues presented. Another strength of the game is
the ability to see immediately the effects media has on voters through the use of both positive
and negative advertising campaigns. Weakness I found in this simulation include the fact that
while the user has to choose the correct position statement to use at appearances based upon
the voters in that state, the options are too simplistic. I would improve this game by allowing
players to compete against one another rather than just the computer. In addition, I would also
varying the wording used in the issues to make the game a bit more challenging. If I had to give
the game a letter grade, it would earn an A.
Reflection: First introduced prior to the 2012 election, Win the White House was recently
revamped and launched ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Icivics publishes a complete
unit plan that accompanies the game so teachers can easily integrate playing into daily lessons.
I will use these plans as I implement this game into my classroom for third, fourth and fifth
grade gifted students. There are 20 more games based on the civics standards for grades 4-12.
I look forward to exploring and using more of their games to enrich the social studies
curriculum for my learners.
References:
Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery
of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications
and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York, NY: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.
5 Assessment Strategies in Learning Games. (2016, June 01). Retrieved September 21, 2016,
from https://www.filamentgames.com/blog/5-assessment-strategies-learning-games

Players choose their Vice Presidential Candidate based upon their view on issues as
well as the demographic they most appeal to.

After each week of simulation, players are given an update as to how effective their
campaign was for. Changes can be made before the next week.

At the conclusion of the simulation, one player is named

the President of the United States!