Parents' Guide to This Is the President

Players work to complete official job-related tasks and further their personal agenda in this interesting, but not visually dynamic political strategy game. As the recently elected commander-in-chief in This is The President, players try to tackle jobs such as paying a lobbyist, addressing an information leak, and dealing with the media, while chipping away at a central goal -- passing Amendment 28, which will prevent them from being prosecuted for questionable business dealings at any point. The work involves time management, delegating tasks, navigating relationships, negotiation, and other skills. Players will also need to keep an eye on their approval rating, which can be affected by different factors. The story is broken into months, and new tasks are introduced throughout each one.

Players make choices periodically that can change the direction of the story, such as what comments they use in a speech, for instance, or questions they ask Ellie, their wife, who does a significant amount of behind-the-scenes plotting. But clicking choices is often the main interactive element in scenes. Players can also tap on character images to delegate a task to that person, but plot developments are in a written format instead of visually shown. Repeatedly scrolling through character conversations may feel a bit lackluster at times if you're expecting more action. The story offers some information about political processes, so it's possible to learn things like the minimum number of states required to pass an amendment. But you'll also see wheeling and dealing, dishonesty, and in certain instances, choices that involve being untruthful that are presented as a valid -- and possibly the best -- option. Parents might not be too crazy about that aspect of the game -- although they might be able to use it as way to initiate a discussion about the importance of ethics in both politics and everyday life. If parents are able to frame some actions the game includes as less-than-ideal choices, This Is the President could potentially provide insight into some executive and legislative branch operational elements -- in a more interesting format than just reading about the information in a textbook.