Introducing W: Far From Crawford

Announcing the latest big Campaign Trail project that I've worked on

Dear readers,

Happy holidays! I’m writing this post to give a quick (and early) announcement of the offical release of the latest side project I’ve been working on: 𝕎. Like 1972: Peace With Honor, the other project I announced on this newsletter, 𝕎. is a mod for The Campaign Trail, an online browser game centered around elections. In this one, you play as another Republican president, George “Shrub” Bush, trying to save his administration and win the 2004 election in a world where 9/11 never happened. In the words of Mango, the mod’s creator, “𝕎. follows a no-9/11 W. Bush presidency from January 2003 until the election, with the 2nd half of Bush's term in the player's hands to salvage his failing agenda. The mod features multiple candidates, endings, and utilizes choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) to give questions different outcomes based on previous decisions, adding a layer of strategy to your answer selections. The writing is a love letter to the culture of the 2000s as a whole, with a particular affinity for the writing of the online liberal press.”

I had a fantastic time working on this mod, and I can’t recommend it enough for anyone with an interest of the culture and politics of the 2000s. I wasn’t the main developer for this mod—that honor goes to Mango—but I did do some work with writing endings, balancing, providing feedback and giving ideas for lore and aesthetics. Others members of the team include QuoProQuid, who did the bulk of the mod’s fantastic writing, along with CTA, RouteVenus, Bonbishka and River. You can play the mod at the link embedded here.

Let me know what you guys think of it in the comments! I’m excited to see what you all discover.

Every frame a painting