I Am Your President

If you are a fan of political intrigue in games, and you enjoy the challenge of managing a country, then I Am Your President might be for you. This recently released title, developed by President Studio, has garnered some early attention. It is quite an intriguing game in the way it is laid out, but it has to be said that the limitations limit just how enjoyable the experience can be.

Can you make America Great Again?

Sorry for the tagline, but the game itself is so clearly build on the Trump-era political thinking that it is impossible to ignore. Like many political fiction games to have been released in the last few years, I Am Your President tries to build on the Democrats vs Republicans political in-fighting that is part of American politics. You choose which of the two parties you wish to represent, and you take on the role of President of the USA.

This is a strategy and management title at its heart, with many of its features trying to fit in with other management sims like For The King. You basically spend a lot of your time dealing with advisors and others who try and give you an idea of what you should be focusing on. The storyline is dubbed ‘hilarious’ by the developers, but anyone with even a passing interest in modern politics will see the gags coming a mile off.

Many of the features are interesting ideas but struggle to work, or are brought down due to poor presentation. There is also precious little impact from your choices, negating many of the implications which are supposed to take place from your decisions.

A mediocre political joke simulator (5/10)

Most of the in-jokes in this game are very much of an anti-Republican persuasion, and the majority of what takes place just feels like tired Twitter commentary from the last six or seven years. Precious little happens or takes place in this that feels interesting or engaging. It is very much surface level, with most of the ‘gaming’ just done through conversations and generic menus.

There isn’t much substance to this at the moment, and it would be hard to recommend I Am Your President. It tries to mimic other popular management titles like This is the Police in the way it presents itself, but very few of its key ideas actually work. If you are looking for a game that is thinly disguised political satire (often of the lowest kind), then you might find something worthwhile in I Am Your President.

Pros

• Interesting idea that tries to build humour on top of current political strife

Cons

• Lacks any real depth and is mostly just a re-tread of overly done political humour
• Not any real feeling of impact from the decisions that you make, cheapening the process
• Limited ability to actually play; most of the game is basically just political joke memes