Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

Party Games

Can board games teach us about democracy and how it works?

An open board game with the words Ngandhi Bala-Dhu? along one side. A circle in the centre includes a row of smaller circles with images of trees, arrows, shells and red, yellow and black circles. There are 4 stacks of cards, one in each corner of the board. One says Decision, one says Reflections, one says Oppression, one says Empowerment.

Ngundi Bala-Dhu?

A chess set featuring politicians carved from a stone. The faces of the black chess pieces are visible and the backs of the white pieces.

Chess set by Douglas Pearce

A deck of cards fanned out in a pile. Some cards are red with a blue border and the word Election! written at the top. There is a cartoon caricature of politicians in the centre of each cartoon. There is one card with a green border with the words 'Play this card when a social media event in your favour is drawn. Margin points plus 4'.

Election! card game

A board game with a dark red board opened up with a row squares around the outside of the board with the names of different companies such as Kodak, Hoyts and Newsweek. In the centre are some game pieces including 3 pieces of paper representing money and some cards with businesses on them including IBM and Telecom.

Poleconomy

A yellow cardboard board game box that's faded with scuffs around the edges. The words Party Game in bold yellow, red and blue letters is next to a photo of a man in a grey jacket with glasses that he touches while he smiles. Caricatures of politicians feature on the box.

Party Game

A green board game board opened up showing seats in a horseshoe shape representing the House of Representatives. There are images of politicians on the seats and some game pieces are on top of the board including a blue card with the words Foreign Affairs and Defence and an orange card with the words Stuff ups and scandals.

Question Time!