I may be inclined to admit that I have actually paper-prototyped a "pure gameplay" mode not entirely dissimilar to what you're envisioning here. The day may come when I undertake the effort to implement that mode... But for now, I'm focusing primarily on finishing the main story!
It's all sort of intertwined with itself, though-- I'm still getting tons of actionable feedback about ways the core debate mode can be refined and expanded, so if this theoretical mode eventually does come to exist, I expect it'll be built on a more solid foundation than what exists currently.
Slowdown on Steam Deck is interesting-- I would expect it to have no problems. If it was just in the last debate, that could suggest I may need to simplify the geometry of the background, or perhaps the lighting configuration of just that scene. I'll look into it-- thanks for the tip!