Political Compass Game 🧭

Political Compass Game is an online classroom resource designed for courses in political science and social science studies. The game transforms the well-known political compass (economic left–right and authoritarian–libertarian axes) into an interactive activity that helps students think critically about political ideologies and party positioning.

How it works

• Room creation — The teacher (admin) sets up a room and distributes the access code to students.
• Student participation — Each student places political parties on the compass according to their understanding of ideological positions.
• Aggregated analysis — The admin receives an “average positions compass,” showing where the class collectively places each party.
• Exploring diversity — By hovering over a party on the average compass, the teacher can reveal the distribution of all individual placements, illustrating both consensus and divergence.

Educational value

• Encourages active learning — Students move from passive observation to active engagement with ideological concepts.
• Facilitates discussion — The comparison between average placements and individual scatter provides a natural foundation for classroom debate.
• Demonstrates perception gaps — Visualizing how different students interpret the same party’s position highlights subjectivity in political categorization.
• WIP: Adaptable to curriculum — Teachers can choose which parties to include, making the exercise suitable for national, regional, or comparative contexts. Future development of the tool will expand the selection to include political parties beyond Denmark.

A tool for guided analysis

Unlike traditional quizzes or competitive games, Political Compass Game is designed to support teacher-led exploration. The admin-only view ensures that the teacher can guide discussion, contextualize results, and connect them to broader theoretical frameworks.

👉 Try it in your next lesson: Political-Compass-Game.vercel.app