BallotBots: Play the political machine in Newsbeat's election game

5 May 2015

By Anna Doble and Steffan Powell

Newsbeat reporters

BallotBots is a game all about the general election, except we've turned your leaders into robots.

Your task is to pair robot politicians with robot voters as you progress through a series of zones on your way to Number 10.

You'll get extra moves and bonus points by avoiding campaign pitfalls, picking up social media credit and correctly answering bonus questions.

Play it on your mobile or your laptop. But be warned, it gets addictive.

The bots

You'll find the colours of all the main parties inside the world of BallotBots.

The politicians have rosettes, the voters have ballot papers.

You need to pair up the same colours to keep your campaign on track.

These are your guys. Just match up the right colours to beat the machine. Easy, right?

You'll be guiding your bots through six election zones.

We picked these based on the issues you told us you care most about in our online survey of more than 6,000 18-24-year-olds.

So there's education, immigration, housing, the cost of living, the NHS and a special extra round for the political battle in Northern Ireland.

More obstacles, questions and pitfalls will pop up as you keep playing through these levels.

Make the most of social media to progress to Number 10

Why is polling day always on a Thursday?

What can't you do in a polling booth?

How old was the youngest new MP in 2010?

If you can answer bonus questions like these correctly, your road to power will be smooth.

Know the answer? Then you can conquer BallotBots

Use the polls to ping your fortunes in a new direction. But watch out for PR disaster pits

This is your target. Being the first of your friends to complete the game is also your target

Use the opinion polls to push your politician in a new direction.

Slide through the right manifesto to gain a move.

More extra moves if you can get past a bacon sandwich, a protest placard or a difficult interview.

You can shunt some objects out of your way as you grab control.

Follow @ballotbots, external on Twitter for daily tips, hi-scores and clips of Newsbeat listeners and guests trying to beat the machine.

BallotBots was created by BBC Newsbeat and Game the News for BBC Taster.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat, external on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat, external on Instagram, Radio1Newsbeat, external on YouTube and you can now follow BBC_Newsbeat on Snapchat