Reference: Formulas
Complete formula reference for A House Divided. All values are sourced directly from game code. Formulas marked with (*) use diminishing-return normalization curves β see the NPI Normalization section below.
Primary Score Formulas
State-Level Primary Score
Used for: US House, US Senate, US Governor, US State Senate, UK Commons, UK Regional Council, DE Bundestag, JP ShΕ«giin, JP Sangiin.
Maximum: 100 points (raw), then multiplied by an infamy penalty.
| Component | Range | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Alignment β state | 0β25 | `max(0, 25 β ( |
| Alignment β party | 0β15 | `max(0, 15 β ( |
| Favorability | 0β35 | (favorability / 100) Γ 35 |
| Political Influence | 0β25 | normalizeNPI(politicalInfluence) Γ 25 (*) |
- Alignment splits into two: 25 pts on the state's cached economic/social lean, 15 pts on party platform.
- When the state has no cached lean, scoring falls back to a single 40-pt party-only alignment:
max(0, 40 β (|econDiff_party| + |socialDiff_party|) Γ 2.0). - Final score = raw Γ
(1 β 0.05 Γ min(100, max(0, infamy))/100)β a 5% reduction at infamy=100.
Quick alignment reference (state-vs-state-lean OR state-vs-party):
| Manhattan distance | State alignment (0β25) | Party alignment (0β15) | Fallback (0β40) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 25 | 15 | 40 |
| 2 | 22.5 | 13.5 | 36 |
| 5 | 18.75 | 11.25 | 30 |
| 10 | 12.5 | 7.5 | 20 |
| 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NPP primary score penalty: When at least one player is in the same party's primary, all NPP candidates in that primary receive a Γ0.5 multiplier on their total score. An NPP with a raw score of 70 competes at an effective 35 against you. NPPs aren't subject to the infamy penalty.
Presidential Primary Score
Used for: US President only.
Maximum: 100 points
| Component | Range | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Policy alignment (party only) | 0β40 | `max(0, 40 β ( |
| Party Organization (home state) | 0β25 | (min(100, max(0, partyOrganization)) / 100) Γ 25 |
| National Political Influence | 0β25 | normalizeNationalReachPresidentialPrimary(NPI) Γ 25 (*) |
| Favorability | 0β10 | (favorability / 100) Γ 10 |
Same infamy penalty applies on the final score. Key differences from the state formula:
- No state-position alignment β presidential primaries are national, only the party platform matters.
- Favorability is only worth 10 points (vs 35 in state races).
- Party org is a major factor β maxes out at 25 pts when home-state org = 100.
- NPI normalization curve is different β uses a diminishing-returns curve
1 β exp(βNPI/45)(normalizeNationalReachPresidentialPrimary), not the sqrt curve that state PI uses. The diminishing shape keeps Support, Favorability, and Org meaningful against a moderate NPI gap.
Canvassing Formula
Cost: β³100 + 1 action. Home state / region only.
baseBoost = 0.05 (percentage points)
distance = |charEcon β demoEcon| + |charSocial β demoSocial|
alignmentMult = max(0.1, 1.0 β distance Γ 0.15)
seasonMult = isCampaignSeason ? 2.0 : 1.0
rawBoost = baseBoost Γ alignmentMult Γ seasonMult
adjustedBoost = rawBoost Γ (1 β |currentModifier| / 20) // diminishing returns
newModifier = clamp(currentModifier + adjustedBoost, β20, +20)
- Campaign season = election active with
endTimewithin 4 hours (4 turns) - Cap: Β±20 percentage points turnout modifier
- Decay: 2% of current value per turn toward zero
Alignment multiplier table:
| Manhattan distance | Alignment multiplier |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1.0 Γ |
| 3 | 0.55 Γ |
| 5 | 0.25 Γ |
| 6.6+ | 0.1 Γ (floor) |
Campaign Upgrade Costs and Effects
Fundraising (10 levels, no maintenance)
| Level | Upgrade cost | Actions | Income/turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 (base) | β | β | β³20,000 |
| 1 | β³50,000 | 10 | β³35,000 |
| 2 | β³120,000 | 15 | β³60,000 |
| 3 | β³250,000 | 20 | β³100,000 |
| 4 | β³500,000 | 25 | β³150,000 |
| 5 | β³900,000 | 30 | β³200,000 |
| 6 | β³1,500,000 | 40 | β³350,000 |
| 7 | β³2,500,000 | 50 | β³600,000 |
| 8 | β³4,000,000 | 60 | β³1,000,000 |
| 9 | β³6,500,000 | 75 | β³2,500,000 |
| 10 | β³10,000,000 | 90 | β³5,000,000 |
Ground Game (5 levels, ongoing maintenance)
Passive effect applies to presidential general elections only. Maintenance is cumulative across all purchased levels.
| Level | Upgrade cost | Actions | Effect | Maintenance/turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | β³55,000 | 10 | +3% swing states | β³5,500 |
| 2 | β³110,000 | 15 | +6% swing states | β³16,500 |
| 3 | β³220,000 | 20 | +9% swing states | β³38,500 |
| 4 | β³440,000 | 25 | +12% swing states | β³82,500 |
| 5 | β³880,000 | 30 | +15% swing states | β³170,500 |
Media Spending (5 levels, ongoing maintenance)
Passive effect: +0.5% favorability per level per turn (presidential races only). Doubles during final 4 turns (season multiplier 2Γ).
| Level | Upgrade cost | Actions | Effect | Maintenance/turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | β³60,000 | 12 | +0.5%/turn favorability | β³6,000 |
| 2 | β³120,000 | 16 | +1.0%/turn favorability | β³18,000 |
| 3 | β³240,000 | 20 | +1.5%/turn favorability | β³42,000 |
| 4 | β³480,000 | 24 | +2.0%/turn favorability | β³90,000 |
| 5 | β³960,000 | 28 | +2.5%/turn favorability | β³186,000 |
Opposition Research (5 levels, no maintenance)
Passive effect: Debuffs target candidate favorability by level Γ 0.5% per turn. Presidential races only.
| Level | Upgrade cost | Actions | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | β³40,000 | 8 | β0.5%/turn to target |
| 2 | β³80,000 | 12 | β1.0%/turn to target |
| 3 | β³160,000 | 16 | β1.5%/turn to target |
| 4 | β³320,000 | 20 | β2.0%/turn to target |
| 5 | β³640,000 | 24 | β2.5%/turn to target |
Campaign season multiplier: All campaign passive effects (Media Spending, Opposition Research, Travel Presence, Primary Campaign bonus) double during the final 4 turns of an election.
Vote Accumulation (General Elections)
Per-Turn Vote Pool Weighting
Early turns (all turns except final 4):
turnPool = 0.75 Γ totalPool / (totalTurns β 4)
Final 4 turns:
turnPool = 0.25 Γ totalPool / 4
The final 4 turns collectively deliver 25% of all votes cast in an election.
Total Appeal Pipeline (per demographic group, per candidate, per turn)
reach = normalizeNPI(influence) // sqrt curve, capped at 1.0 (PI/NPI β₯ 100)
appeal = (50 β |econDiff|Γ5 β |socialDiff|Γ5)Β² / 100 + normalizeNPI(influence) Γ 25
approval = favorability / 100
partyOrg = 0.5 + (statePartyOrg / 100) Γ 0.5 // 0.5Γ to 1.0Γ
infamyMult = 1 β 0.05 Γ (min(100, max(0, infamy))/100) // 0.95Γ at infamy=100; 1.0Γ for NPPs
weight = appeal Γ reach Γ approval Γ partyOrg Γ infamyMult
Office Strength Multipliers
| Office | Strength weight |
|---|---|
| Governor | 1.0 |
| President | 1.0 |
| House / State Senate | 0.9 / 0.85 |
| Senate | 0.8 |
NPI Normalization (*)
Political Influence (PI) and National Political Influence (NPI) pass through normalizing curves before use in formulas. normalizeNPI is a sqrt curve clamped to [0, 100] β meaningful spread at the high end, hard-capped at 1.0:
| PI value | normalizeNPI output |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0.00 |
| 25 | 0.50 |
| 50 | ~0.71 |
| 85 | ~0.92 |
| 99 | ~0.995 |
| 100 | 1.00 (cap) |
| 200+ | 1.00 (clamped) |
normalizeNPI is used by state-level primary scoring AND by general-election reach (state and presidential).
Presidential primaries use a separate curve (normalizeNationalReachPresidentialPrimary): diminishing returns via 1 β exp(βNPI/45). NPI=25 β 0.426, NPI=55 β 0.706, NPI=80 β 0.831, NPI=100 β 0.892, NPI=200 β 0.988. Above the high end the curve continues to creep toward 1.0 but never reaches it, so the celebrity-bonus regime is naturally bounded.
Party Organization Scalars
Party org (0β100) affects:
| Effect | Formula |
|---|---|
| General election vote scalar | 0.5 + (statePartyOrg / 100) Γ 0.5 (range 0.5Γ to 1.0Γ) |
| Presidential primary score | (statePartyOrg / 100) Γ 25 (range 0β25 pts) |
A state party org of 0 cuts your general vote total in half compared to a fully organized state.
Turnout Modifier Decay
Each turn: newModifier = currentModifier Γ 0.98
Effect accumulates over turns:
| Turns since canvassing | Modifier remaining |
|---|---|
| 0 | 100% |
| 4 | ~92% |
| 10 | ~82% |
| 20 | ~67% |
Related
- Reference: Turn Order β Phase execution order.
- Election Mechanics β Full election structure and vote accumulation.
- Primaries β Declaration rules and NPP dynamics.
- Canvassing β Turnout boost formula in detail.
- Campaign Strategy β Upgrade tables and action allocation.