Satirical board game transforms Alberta election campaign into non-trivial pursuit

Never mind Ouija boards. Divestfrom your passion for Monopoly. Time to get a Clue.

For Alberta political junkies and board game aficionados everywhere the moment has (hopefully)arrived to assume the Aura of Power.

That's the name of a new board game created by Alberta Views Magazine, a publication more associated with thoughtful political analysis thantrivial pursuits such as playing games.

At least it was, until they launched Aura of Power, explains Evan Osenton, the magazine's longtime editor, in a Thursday interview on the Calgary Eyeopener.

"We've been covering politics for a long time," Osenton said. "And at the same time, the last 10 years or so [of provincial politics]have been really competitive as well. So it does feel like it'sa [political]environment where just about anything can happen now.

"It just seemed like there's a lot of material there for a board game in it that really fit with what we do with the magazine."

Five party format

The board game features five Alberta political parties:the NDP, UCP, Liberals, Alberta Party and the Greens. (Derek Fildebrandt'sFreedom Conservative Party was created after the game.)

According to Osenton, each participant represents a different party leader, leading their party through an election campaign not unlike the one Alberta's actual political leaders will embark upon this year.

"You start [the game] with the writ drop and you move your way round through the campaign," Osenton said.

"You get to dothings likedoor knocking, all the conventional campaignstuff, plus all the kind of [political] subterfuge [that an election campaign features] the dog whistling and then the fundraising and the advertising and then, there's a debate about three-quarters of the way through, before you get toelection day."

There are obstacles for every party to overcome, Osenton said.

"You want to avoid all the the bozo eruptions that Alberta politics is known for. And, of course, you don't want to fall in the lake of fire," he said, a reference to Wildrose candidate Allan Hunsperger's famous anti-gay blog post that many pundits say costWildrose the 2012 provincial election.

"That's the worst!"

Satirical look at politics

All of it is delivered with a somewhat barbed look at Alberta politics, Osenton said.

"There is a kind of a critique or a commentary to this game," he said.

"But that said, it is a board gameand it is meant to be fun, but there is something a little deeper we're trying to do with it as well."

And while some parties might seem to be more ripe for ribbing than others, Osenton said the game pokes fun at all five provincial parties without targeting any of the five leaders.

"It's kind of an equal opportunity game. We make fun of all the different parties and we don't actually go after any of the specific leaders."

That means for every lake of fire that a UCP candidate might metaphorically stumble into, there's a youthful indiscretion with the potential to takedown whoever is playing the NDP leader on a given day.

And just like politics, Aura of Power is definitely a game of chance, where no one can be quite certain what a well-timed Google search might turn up.

But is it also like politics a game of skill and science?

"The goal is to win the election," Osenton said.

"Like any well-designed game, there is an element of luck but also quite a lot of skill to the game, so it does start off equally.The Greens can win a majority election in this game. The Alberta Party can. So can the Liberals as well.

"Everyone's got a fair chance and there is a certain amount of luck. But the more you play it, [the more] you start to figure out how to use skill," he added.

"It's really for anyone who's a political junkie," he said.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS| Calgary home sales hit lows not seen in over 20 years, according to realtor
• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Little free pantry in northeast Calgary struggles to meet demand
• Read more articles byCBC Calgary, like us onFacebookfor updates and subscribe to ourCBC Calgary newsletterfor the day's news at a glance

With files from theCalgary Eyeopener.