You're a democratic socialist and you've just been elected President of the USA - isn't it fun when games explore the realms of fantasy? This game uses a Tinder-like (or Reigns-like) swiping interface as its primary method of interaction; folk appear before you with policies they want enacted and you swipe left or right to bin them off or attempt to put them into law. You can't simply do what you want though; the interface across the bottom of the screen shows the various resources you have to balance as you attempt to put your political stamp on the US. Some like money, pollution, and the sense of worker unity are simple meters, but I particularly like the voter grid which tracks a sample of the population and lets you see what kinds of policies interest each voter, giving you a real time indication of the popularity of your policies. It's silly and irreverent but there's definitely some neat ideas to be found!

I actually do like this one despite its meh rating, but It's got a lot of flaws politically that knock points off, but I get the idea and I appreciate the work that went in. I just think it simplifies the steps of making a better world too far down and often doesn't go far enough IMO - I know it's not trying to be realistic, and we don't always need realism which is why I said I do like it, but I think if you want a better example of the struggles of enacting leftist policy maybe check out Suzerain.

Short game simulator based on US politics clearly catering to what it says on the tin. As someone who already aligned with the politics that this game caters to, i had an alright time, but perhaps right-leaning people wouldn't, I don't know. I didn't feel like trying that, not just from a personal sense of unappeal, but because I didn't find the gameplay compelling enough to do another run-through. Doesn't alienate me too much as a non-US person, which is good. I've never played a game with these mechanics before so it was fun and refreshing to me, and I enjoyed some of the humour and writing. Good for what it set out to do.

This game turned out to be more well-made than I had anticipated. Visually, it is quite good, and despite its focus on USA politics, its themes can be easily translated to democratic socialism in other countries. I found some of the events to be eerily similar to real-world occurrences in the country I live in. It was refreshing to witness an anti-imperialist portrayal of the USA for once. As a strong advocate of popular power, it was easy for me to get reelected. However, the game's simplicity left me wanting more.

O maior defeito do Lula foi ter transformado seu publico eleitor em votos e compradores, mas não em um povo político, consciente e organizado.
Ninguém gorverna para sempre e não existe conciliamento quando o povo está no poder, afinal, um povo poderoso vai permitir que o governo tome medidas mais radicais. Mas um povo não consciente vai acabar radicalizando por motivos morais e religisos, se deixando alienar por politicos fascistas.
Mas Lula não empoderou, de fato, o povo e isso resume esse jogo.
Essa obra não é sobre conciliar ou apenas gerir, mas sobre um momento muito importante na transição de um sistema republicano para o socialismo.
É interessante a forma que o jogo, quase didaticamente, te introduz um conceito simples de poder popular.
Seu objetivo não é se manter no poder, mas saber que vai sair da presidência tendo construído o futuro para uma mudança social.
Você precisa se preocupar com o tesouro nacional, poder no congresso, poder popular, emissão de carbono e eleitorado, este que vão garantir sua reeleição (no máximo 2 mandatos)
Porém, para alcançar seu objetivo, você precisa focar no poder popular, esse que será enriquecido com medidas populares, sindicalistas e sociais, criando um censo de união e cosciência de classe, Vide poder para o proletariado.
O jogo constantemente te coloca em posições conflitantes, principalmente se você se seguir um viés de esquerda, te causando desconforto enquanto lida com o humor metalinguístico.
E ao final do 2o mandato, você não importa mais. A agência do jogador individual dá espaço para o legado que você construiu, onde o coletivo toma posse quase de forma natural.
Uma obra bem inteligente que me surpeendeu. Jogaço.

Aside from a charming aesthetic and writing style, I can't find much to recommend in this game. Boiling down a series of complex political decisions into a simple "yes" or "no" often makes it feel hollow, and the game seems to take certain aspects of modern economic propaganda at face value, most notably how spending and taxation work. There are high points as well, most notably a refreshing amount of honesty about how much money the american government wastes on completely needless military spending, but by the time I finished the round I was left struggling to figure out what the point of it all was.