Democracy Dies Playfully: (Anti-)Democratic Ideas in and Around Video Games

Projekt CH+ examines whether the mechanics that make video games engaging can help citizens navigate elections, and it situates this question within broader concerns about declining political participation. Swiss turnout has remained below 50 percent since 1979, and non-voters are often characterized as content but disinterested, feeling incompetent, or socially isolated. Drawing on game design theory, including the concepts of the magic circle, feedback loops, and flow, the work argues that democratic participation lacks the clear goals, immediate personal feedback, and controllable choices that make games compelling, while political communication tends to be slow, bureaucratic, and unemotional.

The central contribution is a prototype voting-support app, developed for the 2019 Swiss federal election and refined for a canton-wide test in Uri in March 2020. The app offers candidate swiping, ranking, and dynamic list creation. Across research phases involving more than 500 survey responses, fifteen user-testing sessions, and a field test with over 200 volunteers, public ratings were generally positive, ranging from 3.79 to 4.17 out of five, with 71 percent of respondents saying they would use the final app. Participants found candidate selection overwhelming in earlier phases, and online ratings were weaker than favorable face-to-face reactions, a discrepancy the authors treat cautiously given the small, qualitative nature of the studies.

In an A/B comparison with the established smartvote tool, the playful prototype performed about equally and did not diminish users' engagement with politics, though it also failed to build a stronger personal connection with candidates. Game design experts were more critical, calling for richer playful elements and usability refinements. The concluding CH+ Feedback Model emphasizes user-defined goals, real-world consequences, progress-based feedback, personal investment, and the recognition that voting aids should not claim to be a complete solution to disengagement.