Cut and thrust of Australian politics in new board game
How good's your knowledge of Australian political history? Try this question from the new board game, Question Time: name the Labor Premier of New South Wales who opposed the Scullin Government's monetary policies during the Great Depression, causing a damaging split in the Labor Party. Was it a) James Dooley, b) John Storey or c) Jack Lang?
Or this one, from one of the game's Stuff Ups & Scandals cards: name the former Labor leader who allegedly called Liberal Party president Tony Staley a deformed character, columnist Piers Akerman a cocaine user and columnist Janet Albrechtsen a skanky ho.
Despite my efforts to rectify the situation by reading numerous books on the subject, I admit to being an embarrassing ignoramus when it comes to Australian politics past and present.
Ostensibly a Trivial Pursuit-style board game involving "strategy, knowledge, luck, intuition and rat cunning", Question Time is effectively an interactive book which combines learning about such matters with fun. Consequently, I had a (very informative) ball playing it, even if I got most of the questions wrong and often ended up picking very unhelpful Press Gallery Cards ("You used the term 'Working Families' 21 times in your speech at the National Press Club." GO BACK 3 SEATS) or party Room Cards ("You have not kept to the Party line when you spoke to the media. You are a maverick. The Party is in damage control. GO BACK 3 SEATS.).
Conceived and beautifully designed by political science graduate Tess Shannon and graphic artist Libby Blainey and launched late last year at the Parliament House shop in Canberra, Question Time has been successfully tested by the House of Representatives Committee, the Senate Committee and a focus group of visitor services officers.
Basically, players use dice and a spin dial (the Spin Doctor) to move around a board which represents the Parliament's House of Representatives.
The object is to present three Acts to the Parliament from the Front Bench (an Act of Parliament comprises three Bill Cards of the same portfolio). If there are enough players, one can be elected as Speaker; during the course of the game, if you land on a Filibuster you will have to give a one- minute speech on a set topic.
I've only played this one-on-one so far but I can imagine it's a scream for bigger numbers of players, each of whom represents a different political party (the history of which you get on special cards).
I can even imagine things getting a little rough-and-tumble, and indeed seeing myself or other players ejected from the house.
But isn't that what the cut and thrust of Australian politics is in part about? And why it's better to learn about it through doing rather than reading?
Question Time (RRP $90) is available from Tactics - Fantasy War and Gaming, The State Library of WA and Crow Books. For more information or to purchase online visit questiontimegame.com.au
