Three Branches

You are handed a bill and three branch consoles. Only the branch whose turn it is can act, so you must pick the legal procedural move at each stage, introduce, mark up, vote, sign or veto, and route a vetoed bill into an override. Enact bills before their public-support timer empties.

• Choose the one legal action highlighted on the active branch each stage
• Override a veto with a two-thirds vote to keep a bill alive
• Remember a signed law can still be struck down by the courts
• Every action costs public support, so move efficiently

• Desktop: click the enabled action button on the branch consoles
• Phone & tablet: tap the highlighted branch actions

• Act in order, out-of-turn clicks waste time but the bill won't advance
• Watch the support meter; a clean, minimal sequence enacts more bills per round
• Easy, Medium and Hard change how forgiving the support timer is

Three Branches teaches how a bill becomes law and how the branches check on one another, through procedure and sequencing.

• Skills: civics, branches of government, how a bill becomes law, checks and balances
• Best for: roughly grades 6–12 (ages 11+)
• For parents & teachers: how a bill becomes law, step by step.

Passing a bill where only the branch whose turn it is may act — introduce, mark up, vote, sign or veto — is separation of powers as a procedure rather than a diagram.

Requiring the legal procedural move at each stage is the original demand.

Procedure is where the separation actually lives. The three-branch diagram suggests a balance of strength; the sequence of permitted moves shows what it really is — a set of steps in which no branch can act out of turn, and stalling is as available as acting.

Three Branches is an original procedure-and-sequencing game that teaches how a bill becomes law and how the branches check one another. It is free to play in your browser with daily and practice rounds.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.