The sentence in the title might be a little bold – especially as year 2023 is not yet finished. On the other hand that represents under what impression I am after couple of sessions with Mr. President – a game which is definitely unlike other titles I had possibility to familiarize with.

Below article is neither a thorough REVIEW of the title (not played enough yet) nor a structured approach describing HOW TO PLAY IT (I think, I rather create video to present this). It is more like stream of my impressions, pointing to facts and elements which I deem as worth underlying and stressing. These are overwhelmingly positive, although as with every creation, there are things I might like to see in slightly different way.

The Game

Let us start from the basics – so what Mr. President is and what it definitely is not. Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 is a solitaire game about governing as the President of the United States. Important! It’s not an election game! It begins after you’ve been elected. It’s about sitting in The Chair and trying to advance your agenda while navigating ongoing crises, political enemies, public opinion, your relations with Congress and the press, and keeping your country secure in a world of rival nations and agendas that just seems to keep blowing up around you.

Mr. President is a resource management game, where you never have enough of them to achieve your entire agenda – which I really like as it clearly reflects the reality. The resources will be political capital, military power or simply time / actions you can devote to crises and opportunities.

Like the actual President, you’ll have an array of allies and resources to help you as you navigate both the corridors of power in the nation’s capital and the uncertainties of international relations. These allies and resources will vary from game to game, but you’ll always be able to rely on your Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense to help you with foreign policy and with the use, where you deem necessary, of the combat power of the U.S. military.

You’ll also have a group of domestic advisors and friends in Congress to help you navigate the many challenges in Congress and domestic life and politics. And you’ll always have access to at least one truly exceptional talent (chosen at random for each game), someone who excels in their particular job and is a “force multiplier” for you in their own unique way. How you lead and utilize this mix of talents and experience at your disposal will go a long way toward determining your success or failure during your shot at being Mr. President.

Sounds like a fun? Oh, it definitely is!

The things to appreciate

How such a complex, multidimensional game will work? How it will tell the story, provide great narrative and not bore you with tons of rules and tables? Well, the beauty lies in the way two elements were constructed:

  • first, the learning paths using fantastic Guidebook;
  • second, how the turn operates – with all internal and external dimensions intertwingled.

I was thinking what would be the best way to convey my impression on the game with you Guys, and decided on the tool I like most – using pictures. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words is not a mere slogan, but very accurate statement. So now I am going to take you for a ride through the game, its components and how they reflect the game mechanics:

First and foremost, you would need space. Plenty of it – get your Oval Office prepared!
You will have to put a lot of your attention to the Foreign Policy Theater. It is here where biggest threats lay and that is place where you will most easily lose the game. Try to avoid at all costs!
However, equally important will be the Domestic Theater, with your legislative agenda being promoted by your supporters and you working on re-election. It is here where you can win the game. Focus on this while not neglecting external threats!

The narrative in Mr. President is an exceptional experience. It is also bitter-sweet as in life. Let us see some examples from my games:

I am astonished how accurately Mr. President presents the XXI century political / diplomatic realities. Just read above random event 🙂
Wow, that Special Forces raid in Africa got one of the most wanted terrorists in whole world! Any resemblance to actual facts is completely unintentional 🙂
You do not have resources to address all areas – despite my efforts, in many important Strategic Capabilities we fall behind – Cyber Warfare gives me sleepless nights!
Hard life of internal affairs and legislature process. We were trying to pass that “Infrastructure Bill” for ages, but Six keep popping up and each time it was rejected!
But a steady and predictable internal policy pays-off. We invested heavily in Economy, Security and Congress which finally paid off! Also, some Goodwill from UN was gained for international programs. How thematic!

That is only tiny fraction of things which are happening – and which you need to react to. We did not even scratched the wars, instability, economical development, UN interventions and all other areas which that game simulates.

The things to consider

Let us be clear – Mr. President is not a game for everybody. This is deep, multi-dimensional simulation, which portrays complex and mutually impacting processes and factors. It does it job splendidly but requires commitment – both in time, especially when you start with the game, but also in space – as you will require a decent-size table to be able to set it up.

I saw also an online discussions about political accuracy of the game. Well, for me, it does a splendid job in portraying the environment the POTUS has to work in – China & Russia relationship and rivalry, smaller and larger wars, rouge countries, internal debates and legislation, planning for reelections, fighting disasters and scandals. It does not though discuss and evaluate the actual, 21st century American Presidencies and how they influenced the Nation and World. For this I am thankful to Gene, as there is no hidden political agenda behind this game, but pure, unspoiled boardgame fun and great experience. That was enormously difficult to achieve in our polarized society but the designer did a splendid job here.

How to organize the game?

I thought I will also share the idea how to store that monster of a game – and believe me, number of elements is huge, but what even more important – their sorting in order to quickly set-up the game even more important! For that, I of course went to the Cube4Me page, which offers plethora of various trays, card holders and additional elements. You will get a tremendous product for them for Mr. President too:

Mr. President Storage Solution

Options to play

So you have acquired your Mr. President copy, played your first game with boxed copy but do not have enough space to continue occupying the main table in the Living Room? Fear not!

Mr. President Vassal Module

The indispensable Joel Toppen did a great work as always, and created beautiful and functional Vassal module, You can get it here – but be advised, you will need the rulebook / guidebook materials from boxed copy for actual play.

Conclusions

All in all, I understand now why it took Gene so many years to finish the game. It is simply a masterpiece of its own category – all dimensions are taken care of, the learning process streamlined, the components great. It is a very thematic title, which tells a tremendously interesting story – you simply cannot stop playing as each time you want to check what will happen next. You will not be able to control everything, you will not predict each surprising event – and that is good, as each time you sit down to Mr. President, a new, fresh and exciting adventure will await you! Strongly recommended!