San Francisco, California – Politics is show business for the wealthy. It takes a fortune to get elected. Winning Senate candidates spent an average of $10.3 million on their campaigns in 2012, according to a report from Brookings and the American Enterprise Institute. Victorious candidates in the House of Representatives spent an average of $1.6 million the same year.
That’s why Party Boss from Lot 49 Labs LLC is a game about money and votes. Available for iOS and Android, it’s a lighthearted look at the U.S. political process and its focus on funds.
In Party Boss, players can run for office. But they’ll have to run fast. Assuming the persona of one of three candidates – Alice, Bob, or Carl – players move among political platforms while dodging nosey reporters, explosive issues, and shoes from the crowd. A player who lands on a popular platform will gain temporary immunity from the mudslinging.
Party Boss is a platform game that presents political platforms as objects. Pandering and fear-mongering have never been easier. The game design reflects the way political candidates duck the obligations of public service by evading questions from journalists and by refusing to discuss issues in a substantive way.
“Party Boss is meant to be fun, but I hope it will also encourage people question the role of money in elections,” said Lot 49 Labs founder Thomas Claburn. “Public servants become beholden to private benefactors when they accept their cash. It doesn’t have to be that way.”
Party Boss provides a way to run a political campaign that’s less expensive and more fun than the real thing. And at the end of it all, players can walk away with their integrity intact.
Device Requirements for iOS and Android:
* iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
* Reqiures iOS 6 or higher
* Android 2.3.3 or higher, with an ARMv7 processor
* 41 MB free space
Pricing and Availability:
* Party Boss 1.0 is available as a free download in the Apple App Store in the Game category and in Google Play. The game includes in-app purchasing options ranging from $0.99 to $3.99.
Party Boss 1.0
Download from iTunes
Download from Google Play
Screenshots (zip)
Lot 49 Labs LLC is an independent media company based in San Francisco, Calif. Founded in 2011, the company strives to create apps, books, music, and videos that entertain, provoke, and delight. All Material and Software (C) 2014-2011 Lot 49 Labs / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPod, the iPod logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries. Android is a trademark of Google Inc.