Oval Office ( The Oval Office . The place where the world’s most powerful powers gather. However, in the indie game Another Day As President, it is depicted as a precarious survival battleground.
This game, currently in development by the solo indie game studio 1610, reinterprets the familiar theme of “presidential experience” with a completely new twist. Just a glance at the Steam genre tags is enough to make you tilt your head: survival horror, psychological horror, dark comedy, first-person shooter, time management. If you were expecting a serious political simulation, you’d be mistaken.
A president’s day is more brutal than you think.
The game takes place in the Oval Office, the White House. As president, players take on the role of answering calls from world leaders, managing the economy of a superpower, signing crucial executive orders, and reviewing top-secret documents.
The problem is that all these tasks pile up constantly, accumulating at an ever-increasing rate. When multitasking reaches its limit, concentration falters, and the character actually falls into drowsiness. A drink of water, or if that doesn’t work, banging your head on the desk, is all you need to do to stay awake.
The developer explains this setting calmly in the Steam introduction: “It’s a tough job. You’ll need a nap. But it’s dangerous to fall asleep among these employees.”
Don’t trust everyone who comes to you.
Any staff member entering the Oval Office is clearly a threat. It’s impossible to know whether the aide who enters with documents is truly loyal or harbors ulterior motives. That’s why a revolver is always kept by the President’s desk. Whether signing documents or answering a phone call, he might need to pull the trigger at any moment.
The warning about the game’s provocative content is short and direct: “You can shoot bad guys. There will be blood.” This single sentence most clearly sums up the game’s atmosphere.
This structure is reminiscent of Papers, Please , which emphasized the pressure of document review, but differs in its combination of first-person gunplay and psychological horror. This absurd juxtaposition—holding a stamp in one hand and a gun in the other—is the game’s defining characteristic.
An experiment that mixes genres rather than a political simulation
Another Day As President demands swift action, much like a time management game, but also requires constant tension, much like a survival horror game. Processing paperwork quickly is a key to running a country, staying awake is key to survival, and identifying visitors leads to eliminating threats.
The idea of reinterpreting the center of power as the “most precarious position” is intriguing. Unlike traditional political simulations, where the success of a policy is paramount, the core objective is “Can we get through the day safely?”
Users are asking, “What is this?” to “Add to Wishlist.”
Since the trailer’s release, user reactions have been a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment. The Steam community has been responding with comments like, “Is this really a political game?”, “It feels like Papers, Please with a gun,” and “The premise is so absurd that it makes me even more curious.”
In particular, the game’s darkly comedic tone and exaggerated settings, intertwined with an indie sensibility, are attracting the attention of users who anticipate a unique atmosphere. While the release date and reviews have not yet been announced, the Steam page is steadily growing in wishlists.
The indie game scene has always pioneered new expressions in unexpected places. From Webfishing , which distances itself from the world through fishing , to Papers, Please , which explores the moral dilemma of an immigration officer, to Another Day As President , which now places a revolver on the desk of the world’s most powerful man, the indie genre has always been at the forefront of reinterpreting familiar material from a completely new angle.
Games featuring the president are not entirely uncommon. Similar concepts already exist, such as I Am Your President and Mr. President! However, a case that simultaneously explores the symbolic role of the president through survival horror, time management, and FPS genres is virtually unprecedented.
Another Day As President explores power, but it focuses more on the anxiety, exhaustion, and constant doubt inherent in that position than on politics itself. This work stands out for its uniquely indie experimental spirit, reinterpreting familiar symbols in a unique way and presenting them with a fresh perspective.
Steam Store Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4364570/Another_Day_As_President/
