CHI68: DEVELOPMENT DIARY

My name is Joe Dewhurst and I’m the developer for CHICAGO ‘68, which means my job is to take the game Yoni designed and refine it into a polished finished product. I’ve been working as a boardgame developer for several years now, and I’ve also designed a few of my own games. I’m especially interested in social movements and political protests, so when Yoni approached me to work on this game I leapt at the opportunity!

The process of game development is always slightly different, but in this case I worked closely with Yoni to tweak various game mechanics, adjust the rules and card text for clarity, and improve the solitaire/co-op mode. In this diary I’m going to outline how the different game mechanics work together to depict the dynamics of the historical moment Yoni described in the previous entry.

CHICAGO ‘68 depicts the events of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which saw 10,000 demonstrators descend on the city to protest a wide range of issues, foremost among them the Vietnam War. The main demonstration march and rally was organized by the relatively “straight” National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE), but there were also a variety of more surreal and countercultural actions organized by the Youth International Party, more commonly known as the “Yippies”. These included a “Festival of Life” in Lincoln Park, an “Unbirthday Party” for President Lyndon B. Johnson, and even a porcine presidential candidate: “Pigasus the Immortal”.

Pigasus the Immortal attends a press conference

On the establishment side, Chicago’s powerful and influential Mayor Richard J. Daley had refused to allow any protest permits and deployed the full force of the Chicago Police Department to maintain “order” in his city. He also had a hand in the outcome of the convention itself, being part of the Democratic Party “machine” with access to decision making at the highest level. Just days after the convention closed the City of Chicago released “Strategy of Confrontation”, a belligerently-titled official report on how the administration had handled the protests.

Mayor Daley at the convention

One of the main ambitions of CHICAGO ‘68 is to capture key elements of the political process and “theater of protest” that made the 1968 Democratic National Convention such an unforgettable event, and to explore how public memories of it continue to echo strongly today. To that end, each “side” in the game is split into two sub-groups, a political “Leadership” faction (Yippies and the Mayor) and a more kinetic “Rank-and-File” faction (MOBE and Police). Each round of play (representing half a day) proceeds first with a Leadership phase where the Mayor makes political decisions and the Yippies plan their next colorful “happening”, followed by a Rank-and-File phase where the MOBE and the Police make use of these preparations to clash on the streets.

The Yippies, Mayor, MOBE, and Police each have a separate hand of action cards that they will play from during their respective phases, with up to three cards being played by each side in each phase. Played cards are all returned at the start of the round, so these four hands define the core actions available to players. In the Leadership phase the Mayor will Deploy Officers, Grease Palms, and Work the Machine (crucial for ensuring that the establishment candidate, Hubert Humphrey, wins the Democratic nomination), while the Yippies will Agitate, Rally, and Lead. Then, in the Rank-and-File phase the MOBE will Speechify, March, and Clash, while the Police will Advance, Teargas, and Mass Arrest. This simple menu of core actions already gives a strong sense of the events unfolding in CHICAGO ‘68.

Prototype Action cards – not final art

The Mayor also has two additional action cards, Mandate and Strategy of Confrontation, that allow the player to adjust their political and policing strategies in response to demonstrator actions. Strategy of Confrontation puts into play one of six Police “Tactics”, each of which grants the Police a specific bonus action, such as Crowd Control to remove demonstrator Rally Flags and Raid on McCarthy Suites to disrupt the anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy’s chances of being nominated at the convention. Mandate allows the Mayor to spend Capital (representing both fiscal and political currency) to activate unique “Policies” such as Authorize Tear Gas, Permits Denied, and Seal the Bridges. Most of the available Policies are drawn at random, and repeated activations become increasingly expensive, forcing the Mayor to adapt and make do with the options available to them (although they will always have access to certain key Policies).

Prototype Tactics cards – not final art

The Yippies similarly have access to a random assortment of “Street Theater” cards, representing the many and varied plans that the Youth International Party had for the convention week. The Agitate action draws Street Theater cards from the deck into a limited splay, and then to make use of these opportunities the demonstrators must maneuver their Yippie Agitators into specific areas (indicated on each card). For example, the Unbirthday Party for LBJ requires an Agitator in Michigan Avenue, where the festivities will embolden the MOBE (replacing two Level 1 MOBE pieces with more powerful Level 2 pieces). In this way the Yippies are able to spend the Leadership phase preparing opportunities that they (and the MOBE) may be able to utilize, but their chaotic organizational structure means that they never know quite what is going to happen next. While planning is key to running an effective political demonstration, so is a degree of flexibility and a willingness to take advantage of unexpected opportunities for the “theater of protest”.

Prototype Street Theater cards – not final art

Once the Mayor and the Yippies have finished their preparations in the Leadership phase, the MOBE and Police take their turns in the Rank-and-File phase. These typically revolve around maneuvering into advantageous positions, and then initiating “conflict” to injure or arrest opposing pieces. Conflict gains Exposure (one of the game’s victory conditions) for the acting side, with conflict in Parks being more beneficial for the Police while conflicts in Michigan Avenue, the Hilton Hotel, or even the Convention Hall being better for the MOBE. As “the whole world is watching”, Mayor Daley needs to be seen to maintain order in Chicago, while the demonstrators seek to cause maximum disruption to the convention.

Conflict can also trigger the draw of a “Mob Chaos” card, if enough pieces or a single Police Tactical Force (not known for their subtlety) are involved. Each Mob Chaos card features two different effects, one for Day turns and one for Night turns, alongside a historical quotation thematically connected to its effects. During Day turns Mob Chaos typically favors the demonstrators, as they are able to take advantage of media oversight, whereas during Night turns the police are able to run riot without outside interference. For example, a Mob Chaos card might force the Police to discard an action card or their current Tactics card (during the day), or allow them to move units to the Convention Hall and then Mass Arrest there (during the night), with a quotation from veteran journalist Walter Cronkite describing the Democratic Convention as taking place “in a police state”. Just as in real life, players can never be certain of the effects of Mob Chaos, as both demonstrators and police officers lose their cool and the situation spirals out of control.

Prototype Mob Chaos cards – not final art

There is much more to CHICAGO ‘68 than can be summarized in one developer diary, but hopefully this has given you a taste of how the game attempts to depict the political street-level dynamics of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests. In the next diary we will cover the visual approach to the game with our illustrator, John Biggs.