I Built a Presidential Simulator. It Wasn't Fun.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to build a presidential strategy simulator.

The idea seemed simple enough. Give players control of the Trump administration, let them make terrible decisions, and see how much damage they could do in four years.

I spent an embarrassing amount of time building it.

There were executive orders, international crises, cabinet decisions, political consequences, and even a presidential ranking system based on C-SPAN's criteria.

It was complicated. It was ambitious. It had hundreds of automated tests.

It just wasn't much fun.

I kept adding features, convinced the next one would fix it. Eventually, I realized I was spending more time trying to make the game entertaining than actually being entertained by it.

So I pulled the simulator.

Fortunately, the administration came to the rescue.

President Trump recently signed a wonderful executive order replacing the word "Artificial Intelligence" with "Super Intelligence." The definition still points at the old one.

Naturally, I had to take advantage of this technological breakthrough.

Super Intelligence is now available in the Oval Arcade. Pick an ordinary object and watch it become something truly extraordinary.

It's on the laptop, where the simulator used to be. The button says SI.

A stapler gets gold trim and Trump branding. A calculator discovers that every answer is 47. The Constitution's amendments have been relabeled suggestions.

The technology is revolutionary. The results are largely cosmetic.

As for the presidential simulator, I haven't completely given up on it. I'm reworking the concept into a much smaller, card-based strategy game that might actually be fun to play.

But I'm not rushing it this time.

Unless you add gold.