Political experts and board game fans might want to take a look at the new issue of a local magazine that features a game that puts a spotlight on the 2019 Alberta election.

The game, called Aura of Power, is printed in the centerfold of the January/February 2019 issue of Alberta Views. Its creators wanted to do something special to kick off the election year and thought the ‘cynical’ look at Alberta elections was just the ticket.

“We wanted people to start thinking about the election and think about some of the issues around elections as well. It’s not so much about the 2019 election as much as it’s about any Alberta election, really,” said game creator Evan Osenton.

In Aura of Power, five players take on the roles as leaders of the largest political parties in Alberta and Osenton says it’s anybody’s game to win.

“Everyone has an equal chance of winning; it’s not set up so that the NDP or the UCP are going to win necessarily. The Alberta Party, the Greens and the Liberals have just as good a chance at winning in this game.”

Osenton says that each of the parties have their own strengths and weaknesses so each player has an edge on his opponents in different ways.

The game focuses on the campaign season and players can either take the straight and honest route to win over voters, or they can employ some different tactics.

“You can fundraise and then use the money to make some pretty negative ads or you can save your money until the end of the election and then drop a really negative ad right towards the end.”

The game also includes a number of pitfalls that players will want to avoid at all costs.

“You want to avoid falling into the Lake of Fire, you want to avoid a Bozo Eruption and a number of scandals. Most of those come out of the cards.”

No matter the outcome, Osenton says people will have fun playing it no matter how much they know about politics.

“It works. We’ve play-tested it with people outside of the magazine and with staff here and it works. It’s a little bit different from a lot of the games I’ve played. There aren’t a lot of games about politics.”

Osenton says the game is realistic and many people might learn from it too.

“There’s a lot in this game about money and the undue influence of money over politics [and] about the uncertain but possible negative impact of PAC (political action committee) funding in Alberta politics,” he says. “The advertising, especially the negative advertising, has a pretty powerful impact on voters’ intentions.”

He hopes the game will appeal to readers of the magazine and also encourage others to pick up a copy and try their hand at winning it all.

“Maybe by pointing it out and having some fun with it, we can get everyone to take themselves a little less seriously and maybe not approach everyone as quite so much of an enemy.”

You can pick up Aura of Power in the current issue of Alberta Views. The game rules and downloadable cards are available on the magazine’s website.

(With files from Chris Epp)