Explained: Donkeys vs Elephants

In this article you read more about the background of the game 'Donkeys vs Elephants'.

Don't know what game it's about? In that case, first look here.

The game Donkeys vs Elephants is based on the American elections. Donkeys and Elephants compete in a fictional duel for the presidency of the country. The electoral college is central in this: the one who manages to secure at least 270 electoral votes wins the game.

In this article you will read more about the ideas behind the game and which design choices were made. The following topics will be covered:

The relationship between the electoral college and the setup of the game

The dilemmas and choices made in the design process

The production of the game

with others

Relationship between the Electoral College and the game

The president in the United States is elected with the help of 538 electors, who make up the Electoral College. Formally, residents of the United States vote for these electors: after the election, they gather in each state to cast their votes for a presidential candidate. In a session of Congress, these votes are counted and it is formally decided who the president is.

Each state has a different number of electoral votes. The number equals the number of members in Congress, which is the House of Representatives plus the Senate, of the state. This number can change over time , but since the 1964 election there have been a total of 538 electoral votes to distribute. The smallest states have three electoral votes; the largest (California) has fifty-four.

The game also works with these electoral votes. As in the real American elections, you must obtain a minimum of 270 electoral votes to win. The number of electoral votes you can win per state is the same number of electoral votes as for the 2024 presidential election.

An important difference between the real elections and the game is how these electoral votes are obtained. During the election, in almost all states, except maine en nebraska, you have the ‘winner takes all’ principle: the candidate with the most votes gets the state's electoral votes. In the game, you win the state (and electoral votes) if you field more donkeys or elephants than your opponent. As a result, it is not about running the most effective campaign possible, but about tactically smart use of the available animals.

Dilemmas and choices

The dynamics of an election lend themselves well to a game. Elections have a clear goal, tactics are needed to win, and there are often surprising twists and turns. Now, of course, an election is a lot more complex than a board game, requiring choices about how best to translate it. A number of dilemmas with corresponding choices made are explained below.

Dilemma

Choice

Elections are often about the personalities of politicians, how do you factor that in?

It's true that elections are often about the personalities of the candidates running for office. In the game, you are introduced to how the American electoral system works, but are not otherwise engaged in politics, as it focuses primarily on the game element of how to collect enough electoral votes. Due to the game design, personalities are less important and the choice was made not to make the game about this.

Doesn't the game get too long with 51 State Cards?

Actually, there are too many States Cards in the game: for playing time, fewer cards would be desirable. However, if you were to do this, you also remove the foundation of the game, the Electoral College. Because this is so important to the game, making (major) adjustments to this is also not an option.

How do you handle a tie in a State Battle?

IIn the game it happens regularly that a state battle ends in a tie. To keep up the momentum of the game, it is desirable that it is immediately clear which party wins the state battle. In this case the Elephants always win, but this means that the Donkeys are at a disadvantage in this respect. To compensate, this means the Donkeys start with more at the beginning of the game. The asymmetry thus provides an extra tactical dimension and an easy way to avoid ties.

Production of the game

Producing a game is a trade-off between the following criteria: functionality, cost and fun:

Functionality. A component must have a role in the game and it must be easy to use.

Cost. The cost of a component cannot be too high or the game will be too expensive. Because of this, material type and quantity of a component in the game are considered.

Fun. Ultimately, the game must be fun to play, otherwise it is not a good game. Some components in a game can be crucial to game enjoyment.

In Donkeys vs Elephants, for example, trade-offs between these criteria led to the following choices for parts:

Donkeys and elephants as wooden components. This was not the cheapest option, but makes it more fun than using (standard) cubes.

Simple game board + double use of cards. Many board games have a large game board on which all the actions take place. For this game, a map of the United States with all the states depicted on it would also have been an option. This option is just a lot more expensive, also because of a larger box you would need. And, more importantly, would create a new challenge with the placement of the donkeys and elephants on some states, because they are not very large in area, but in number of electoral votes they are (e.g. New Jersey). Because of this, a small scoreboard and use of cards as the playing field was chosen.

State tokens. For the functionality of the game, it is desirable to know how many points are left in the game. By placing a states token on the played State Battle Card each time, everyone knows how many points are left in the game. The extra act of placing the states chit on the card is not desirable for the fun of the game, but having a view of which points are still in the game is more important.

Almost all the parts are produced by the Italian company ludocards . This company uses solar energy, recycled paper and food-grade ink to make the parts. The wooden donkeys and elephants come from the Chinese company wenzhou huiyin stationery commodity co., ltd.