Power fantasies have always been a big part of video games. Games like Doom, Grand Theft Auto, and Yakuza have been selling players on the dream of being able to punch, shoot, explode, and occasionally karaoke their way to the top of the pecking order with outrageous sales records of success. But when it comes to the ultimate power fantasy, one job blows everyone else out of the water: the leader of the free world.
Although being the President of the United States is a different power fantasy to carjacking, fighting dragons, and general gun-gameplay, it's still a power befitting to players that they would otherwise lack outside the virtual space, so it's time to look at some games that let players become the U.S. President.
10 Saints Row 4 (2013)
While players won't get much political action after the opening act, Saints Row 4 slaps two major pieces of legislation across the boss' desk with all the little political capital that a party formed explicitly around a homicidal gang leader can muster: curing cancer or ending world hunger. However, after that, aliens invade, and the political decisions are reduced to "AK" or "grenade."
Sants Row 4 probably takes the spot as the most fantastical depiction of a United States president, complete with a unique character creator, and the fact that this is the first time audiences see a commander-in-chief personally strap into a giant rocket launcher mechanism and starts firing explosives at a spaceship.
9 Shadow President (1993)
It's hard to excite any gamer enough to get them to want to play a geopolitical simulator from 1993, but Shadow President might be the one that started it all. As well as digging into the fun stuff like invading Canada or plotting coups in South America, players of Shadow President also have to worry about managing perception, winning tickets at the ballot box, and balancing the budget.
The future of the United States (in 1993) can get wacky depending on the decisions the president makes, including the advent of cyberpunk tech or even world peace!
8 Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
For anyone who ever wanted to hear JFK yell, "Need some beans for the chowder here!" while reloading back-to-back with Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara over the ever-encroaching noise of blood-gurgling moans of zombies, Call of Duty: Black Ops has a secret zombies map named "Five."
Players won't be taking round after round of policy debate with tricky political opponents, but instead, they and their three friends will take on wave after wave of zombies with pistols, shotguns, and demonic cymbal-playing wind-up monkeys. It might not be very presidential in the traditional sense, but it hits the mark given that every line out of JFK's mouth sounds like a riveting speech.
7 Supreme Ruler Ultimate (2014)
Here's a game that doesn't just let players choose the politics, but the time and place. The political sandbox in Supreme Ruler Ultimate offers players the chance to wage war, race to Mars in the second great space race, or shift the country's capital from DC to Alaska.
Players can challenge themselves by trying to turn 1950s Sweden into the NAP-abiding, an-cap dystopia of their dreams, or they can try their hand at repainting the Whitehouse with Soviet-appropriate-era red paints. According to the fans, jumping onto sandbox mode and attacking a personal goal is the best way to play.
6 Metal Wolf Chaos (2004)
Metal Wolf Chaos is a wildly ambitious interpretation of the American political process from the point of view of someone who enjoys awesome mech animes, where policymaking is seconds to mecha-combat.
There isn't much policymaking to be had in Metal Wolf Chaos, but there's plenty of rad, bad, giant-mech-clad action from start to end. If only civic action took place in the same way as depicted in the game. There wouldn't be much of a country left, but it would certainly be quite the spectacle.
5 SuperPower 2 (2004)
The fan base of Superpower 2 is a notoriously tight-knot one, which means there's still a good chance of finding someone else to play in multiplayer mode despite the game's age. However, even for players who prefer a purely single-player experience, the game's incredible AI does a fantastic job of learning and changing behaviors between world leaders, making for a challenging but always surprising playthrough.
This makes it more or less fun to dominate other countries economies, liberalize their natural resources, or straight-up blow up their bases, depending on the player's sympathies (or lack thereof). Superpower 2 gives players total freedom over what they can do throughout their term limit, including removing the term limit, instating a presidential monarchy, and declaring themselves the king of the sea.
4 NBA Jam: On Fire (2010)
Plenty of real presidents have made plenty of appearances in sports video games. However, not all of them were playable. In NBA Jam: On Fire, not only is the 44th POTUS playable, but Barack Obama also brings his A-game along with Joe Biden and Bill Clinton on the Democrats team. Having famously installed a basketball court in his Whitehouse, this cameo is a no-brainer.
However, whether Clinton or Biden are also hotshots at shooting hoops is less clear. NBA Jam: On Fire also includes an unlockable Republican team and the 43rd POTUS, George W. Bush (who seems more like the type of president who enjoys golf than basketball, but his inclusion makes for a fitting rivalry nonetheless).
3 This Is The President (2021)
In most prez simulators, the player is presented with economic, geopolitical, or ethical questions. However, in This Is The President, the player is told in no uncertain terms that the goal is to ratify an amendment to the constitution that absolves every president of their previous crimes (for example, those committed during their tenure as a shady business person).
There are plenty of meaty policy options to wrangle with, as well as the other self-serving civic servants sharking the pools of the Oval Office to contend with, appease, or crush. But players should be warned: This Is The President appeals to those with a nihilistic view of politics, or at least those with a bleak sense of humor. In that sense, it might be the most realistic simulator on the market.
2 Sid Meier's Civilization 6 (2016)
Civilization 6 starts players off during the founding year of the United States of America, 4,000 BC. The game is an alternative take on history since it's doubtful that historic figures like Gandhi could possess nuclear warheads. Regardless, players must bring America into its full, freedom-hogging glory or watch as the empire falls apart.
The term limits in Civilization 6 are a little longer than in reality, capped at around 6,000 years (give or take a thermonuclear apocalypse). But for big fans of Theodor "Teddy" Roosevelt, good-old honest Abe Lincoln, or players who like working towards spectacular cultural victories, Civ 6 might be the perfect presidential fix.
1 Democracy 4 (2020)
The latest game in a series of surprisingly addictive spreadsheet-powered politics sims puts players in the shoes of a newly elected and faceless POTUS. Once elected into the highest office in the land, the player must ensure that all the country's demographics are satisfied or risk being out-elected or assassinated.
There's less emphasis on warfare in Democracy 4 and more on cold, complex policy. The interface doesn't exactly scream "excitement," but the game is deep enough to get even the cleanest political junkie playing all night.