Mobile game drives hundreds of New Zealanders to enrol and vote
Hundreds of New Zealanders have been playing a game called “NZ Election Fighter 17” based on the New Zealand election
campaign which encourages them to enrol to vote in the upcoming general election.
Regan Ashworth, a Software Developer from Xero, created NZ Election Fighter 17 over 3 weeks in his spare time. “It was a
labour of love,” Regan says, “I heard that nearly 250,000 young people hadn’t enrolled to vote and I figured that I
should do something about it”.
The game, NZ Election Fighter 17, features Labour leader Jacinda Ardern and National party leader Bill English facing
off in a farcical Street Fighter style battle. Players can choose to be Jacinda or Bill and the two leaders fight to see
who wins the election. Regan said “I wanted to create something that would grab people’s attention by making them laugh.
Once they’re laughing they’re more likely to engage with the message, enrol, and vote”.
NZ Election Fighter 17 is available for to download for free on the Apple App Store and theGoogle Play Store.
The game has been available since August 31st. It has been played thousands of times and reached over 40,000 people
through social media.
“I’m hoping that the game helps to increase voter turnout in the election” says Regan. “If a few people enrol and vote
because of my game then the hard work will have been worth it”.
ENDS
Background:
NZ Election Fighter is a fighting game based on the 2017 General Election in New Zealand made by Regan Ashworth. In the
game Jacinda Ardern and Bill English face off in a Street Fighter style battle and players are encouraged to enrol to
vote while playing. It follows in the footsteps of “Corbyn Run”, a game that featured UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and “Fiscal Kombat”, a game featuring French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon. For more details see http://www.reganashworth.com/