Fantasy Congress

Fantasy Congress
Type of site
 Fantasy sport
Website https://www.fantasycongress.com
Commercial Yes
Registration Required to play
Launched 2018

Fantasy Congress is an online game structured like fantasy sports where data is gathered about congressional elections and converted into points. Players create teams of individuals running for office in the US House and Senate. Congressional candidates acquire points based on three categories: how much money they raise, how often they are mentioned in the media, and the final percentage of votes they receive in the election. Like fantasy sports, teams compete in small groups called leagues. At the end of the election season, each team with the most points in their league wins.[1]

History

The first version of a fantasy congress game began in 2006 as an online fantasy simulation sport where players, called citizens, could draft members of the United States House and Senate, and keep track of their participation within the U.S. Congress. Actions, especially within the process of making and amending pieces of legislation, of a player's drafted congresspersons were recorded and rated as a cumulative total number of points against other players.[2]

This version of Fantasy Congress, which ran from 2006 to 2009, was meant to appeal to both recreational and educational players; it offered a wide range of links and research tools to help players in choosing their members of Congress whose activity their scores will derive from.[3][4] Students at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, the creators explained that the game could even work to make the government more accountable.[2]

A new fantasy congress game will launch in June 2018.[1] Unlike its predecessor, this version of fantasy congress encourages players to predict which individuals are most likely to get elected, instead of their legislative success.

Gameplay

In the 2006 version of Fantasy Congress, points were calculated based on "Legislative success" (including co-sponsored legislation and amendments), voting attendance, "Maverick Score" (the willingness of a member of Congress to cross party lines in close party votes), and noteworthy news mentions. Legislative success was the progress of a congressperson's sponsored or cosponsored legislation through the U.S. legislative process, all the way up to the President's signature or veto. Also, small legislative actions counted for points, such as amendments and changes to the legislation.[4]

The most recent version of Fantasy Congress begins with players ‘drafting’ candidates running for office. During the election season, candidates will acquire points based on data collected on three categories:

  1. How much money they raised
  2. Frequency of media mentions
  3. Their percentage of the vote in the election

Similar to fantasy sports, players can drop candidates from their roster and add news ones throughout the season. Teams with the most points in their leagues at the culmination of the season win the game.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fantasy Congress. (May, 2018) Fantasy Congress https://fantasycongress.com
  2. 1 2 Venkataraman, Nitya (October 24, 2006). "Video Games, Internet Sites Going Political". ABC News. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ Blancato, Joe (30 October 2007). "Fantasy Congress". The Escapist. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. 1 2 "History of Fantasy Congress". Fantasy Congress. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.