The People's House

The People's House is a massive and content-filled game. The omnibus lists the word count at 460,000 words, yet it somehow feels larger than that. Not to mention, with a whole array of President stuff to do, like foreign trips, managing scandals and so on, this is one title which can keep you entertained for a long time.

There is a fairly detailed character creation system, where you pick the usual stuff like your name and gender, along with your background, political party, state, college and so on. It does a good job of setting up the backdrop for this political adventure. There isn't really romance in this game, but as President, you can start with a spouse and kids, with some degree of customization there.

Of course, being a president isn't a fun job, or a clean one, despite... appearances. You'll have to decide priorities, international relations, your relationships with other politicians and so on. Family might get thrown into the mix. There will be plenty of times people of power will offer the choice to do something dubious in exchange for certain benefits, and it can be a hard decision to decide if you want to do the right thing with other problems on the line. It was hard to get a sense of how the game was doing the math behind each choice, but there were plenty of times I stopped to ponder each decision and worry about the consequences.

Ultimately, I felt really bruised and battered after my first term, between all the political pressures, and decided to not to run again. I did somewhat better on my second attempt. Perhaps sometime, I'll figure out that perfect run and be a President worth something.

It's not a perfect experience, but if you're into political games, I can fully recommend this. If you're not... I'd say it's still worth a look.