What's a fun thing to do while waiting for election results?

By Mert Yerekapan, maker of Midterms 2026 · Updated 2026-10-28

Pick a few races, grab some food and make it a watch party, or play something to pass the time. A short election game like Midterms 2026 on iPhone fits the gaps between results. Counting can take hours, and in close races even days.

Why waiting is part of it

Results come in as polls close, state by state, and many states count slowly. Early numbers can mislead, because different kinds of votes are counted at different times. I'd treat the first few hours as a preview and not a verdict.

Ideas

Host a watch party. Each person picks a few races in advance and makes a prediction. Loser washes the dishes
Track only a handful of races. Pick three or four that interest you and ignore the rest. It's calmer and you'll understand them better
Follow the House and Senate separately. Remember that 218 of 435 is a House majority, and the Senate has 100 members, with about a third up each cycle
Cook something. Election night food has a long tradition for a reason
Take breaks. Notifications will keep coming. You don't need to watch every update

A game for the gaps

I made Midterms 2026, a free iPhone strategy game, and election night is a good time for it. You found your own party, run a 20-turn campaign, and then watch your own election night play out, with 35 Senate races and all 435 House seats counted.

It's useful as a companion to the real thing because it teaches you what to look for. A "House if the vote was today" projection and a goal bar toward 218 seats mirror the kind of tracking you'll see on TV, so the real numbers make more sense.

A full campaign takes well under an hour, there's no account, and the game works offline. It's not a way to predict anything about the real election, though. All the parties and characters in it are fictional.

What I'd do

If you're hosting, put a prediction sheet on the fridge and give out small prizes. If you're alone, play a campaign while the first results trickle in, then check the real map when a state is called.

Most of all, don't treat the first number you see as final. That's the one lesson I'd carry from election night every time.

If you're stuck at home on your own, a small ritual helps too. Pick a snack for every state that gets called, or set a timer and check results only once an hour. It turns waiting into a game of its own.