Branches+of+Power+(leigh)

 The game that I played was titled “Branches of Power.” This game goes through the motions of creating a bill or a law. It goes through each step: legislative, executive, and the judicial branches. The player, at any point of time, can switch between the three characters in order to get the job done. The game also helps players realize how important it is to know what people’s interests are in the way of politics, whether they are liberty, equality, cooperation or generosity to name a few.  It has been a long time since I have learned about the government and how it really functions (I knew that there were three branches of government however). This game really walks the player through the process of how to get a bill passed and make it into a law. This game is a great reinforcement for solidifying the concepts of how bills are made into laws and the steps that they go through.  I first did the tutorial of the game to make sure I understood what I needed to do. It walked me through step by step and showed me the order of branches that the bill needed to go through and what I needed to say in the town hall meetings in order to get support from the people. If I wasn’t able to get enough support, when it went to the legislative branch, then I would have to get more support from the people or reword the bill. Then it went through the process all the way to when the president would sign it and make it a law. It also touches on the self-knowledge principal. When you’re creating the bill, you not only have to keep the citizens best interests in mind but also your own beliefs. If you don’t care about the bill, then why should anyone else. It makes me you realize what ideas and practices are important in your own life.  I really enjoyed this game as far as educational games go. It was definitely a review for me as far as the content goes. I felt it did a good job of reinforcing of how bills function and how the three branches work together to pass laws. This would be a good review game/activity after the lessons were taught. For those students who need things actually demonstrated to them for their learning, this game would really help their learning.