This summer my son Ethan asked if he could build a video game about the presidents. I figured we'd get a weekend out of it. He built 23 elections.
<RoadToOfficeLink content="article">Road to Office</RoadToOfficeLink> puts you in the chair, from FDR's re-election in 1936 to Trump's comeback in 2024. You face the real decisions in the order they happened, more than 670 of them. Then comes Election Night, and the map calls the states one at a time. It's free, there's no sign-up, and it works on a phone.
The rule he wouldn't budge on
Ethan had one design rule: not every "yes" is the right answer. In some decisions the safe-sounding choice is the wrong one, and it's listed first on purpose. Click the first button every time and you'll win on Easy. Try that on Impossible and you lose.
I've spent a long time around markets, and that's the most useful thing I can tell a new trader. The obvious answer is usually already in the price.
What 23 elections taught me about reading a market
Momentum isn't the whole story. In the campaign years the game tracks two meters, Momentum and Party Unity. Win the news cycle while your party splits and you still lose. Markets price the same thing: a candidate can surge on headlines with a fractured base underneath.
The economy decides more than the headlines. In the governing years the meters are the Economy and Morale. The scandals get the coverage. The paychecks decide the map.
The real result is one outcome, not the only one. Every Election Night ends with "You vs. History." You can win 1976 as Ford, who really lost. That's how to think about a market favorite: if a 60-cent price is right, it still loses about four times in ten.
Where to go from here
The 2026 midterms are November 3. If you want to see what the markets are pricing, our Senate map and midterms hub have every race. If you want to find out whether you'd have done better than Truman in 1948, <RoadToOfficeLink content="article">play Ethan's game</RoadToOfficeLink>.
He'd love to see your result. Hit Share at the end, post it, and tag @BennyR11.
Road to Office was made by Ethan, age 11.