What would happen if we put tomorrow’s leaders in charge, today?
GAME
CREATIVE IDEATION - PROJECT MANAGEMENT - AI INTEGRATION
Think tanks have a name for reacting to today's problems with yesterday's solutions: tax and spend, cut services, build more houses. Once-radical ideas that have lost their charge.
The Tony Blair Institute, one of the world's most ambitious think tanks, set me a challenge: find a way to make the next generation of leaders understand its bold vision for how governments should embrace technology. So instead of telling them, I built something that let them do it themselves.
Welcome to your government.
You’re in charge here
A simulation of political leadership that’s digestible, engaging and fun.
1. Players choose a country and declare what they stand for, from climate to economic growth, so their people know exactly how to judge them.
2. They invest in the world's most exciting technologies, unlocking policy options no real leader has ever had.
3. Then they spend their budget and term wisely, navigating the same trade-offs and limitations real governments face. Hyper-speed rail or AI-driven healthcare: the choice, and the consequences, are theirs.
.
and in the end…
Players end up with a state that is uniquely theirs, that reflects what they’re capable of as a leader in a tech-enabled state.
Their decisions have a visual and numerical impact on their chosen state. No two players will have created the same place.
A political strategy game that
puts young people in charge.
A product, enabled by AI
A product, enabled by AI
As a not-for-profit with a limited budget, the Institute had never been able to execute a creative project of this scope. I made it possible through the strategic use of AI across the whole production: Midjourney to develop art direction, GPT-o1 to analyse audience data for insight, and Adobe Generative Fill to perfect the in-game visuals.
The result was a polished, ambitious product built at a fraction of the usual cost and time.
Marketing & Promotion
Activating Gen Z through social
Young people want to be heard. I built a paid social campaign that positioned the game as a way to turn passionate opinion into real-world consequence, pushed through targeted ads, influencer partnerships, and content packs shared by Institute staff.
This was rolled out across Institute social channels, as well as through paid ads and on influencer channels through strategic partnerships.
10,000+ states made in month 1
And world leaders at the biggest political conference of the year.
The Institute's flagship annual conference brought 500+ of the world's most influential people into one room: heads of government, business leaders, and technology innovators. The first thing they saw on arrival was a trailer for the game, with a link to play.
Played by 500+ of the world’s most influential political, tech and economic leaders
Imagine your own state.
Client: Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Publication date: July 2024
Role: Strategic and creative lead & oversaw production.