Christopher Monks — longtime Indecision 2008 friend and McSweeney's Internet Tendency editor — has a new book on gaming your life out, and he was kind enough to do a little something special for us.

Mini Game: Voting

Voting can be an extremely satisfying experience, as you can't help but feel proud and patriotic for taking part in democracy first hand. Because of this, casting a ballot every Election Day will add six Life Points (LPs) to your total. However, as with everything else in Your Life®, there are a few obstacles you'll have to overcome before collecting them.

Obstacle #1: The People Holding Signs in Front of the Nursing Home Where Your Precinct Is Located
Difficulty: Moderate
Life Points Vulnerable: 2

The small crowd of people holding signs for their respective candidates can be pushy, and if you let their last minute pleas for support get to your head your Guilt and Confusion Meters will rise to perilous levels.

This is especially true when you see Margaret, the woman you've been flirting with at the Laundromat. She'll hold a sign for Gus Shanks, your local Fascist-leaning alderman. You never took Margaret as the fascist type so this will come as something of a shock, and you'll lose your bearings and begin to think that Mussolini was just a poorly misunderstood novelist. So, yeah, you'll want to avoid the people holding signs.

Otherwise you'll enter the precinct with your judgment clouded, and risk the chance of voting for a candidate you'll regret about later, which will cost you two LPs.

Tip: Run (D-PAD UP + ANALOG A-PAD on the controller) past the people holding signs while holding your ears and humming the "This Land is Your Land." (TAP X-BUTTON GENTLY + C-BUTTON)

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