"One of the single most engrossing, horrifying pieces of interactive fiction I've ever read." - Xalavier Nelson Jr
"This story grabbed me by the heart and shook. Highly recommended for a look at darkness and what it makes you.” - Patrick Weekes
WRITER & DIRECTOR
AMERICAN ELECTION, a critically acclaimed interactive fiction about personal horror and collapse in the face of daily, workplace-inflicted tyrranies. The irony? Here, you’re working for a would-be tyrant… AMERICAN ELECTION was longlisted for a BAFTA award, finalist for IGF Excellent in Narrative, showcased at AdventureX (London) and WordPlay (Canada), and praised by Rock Paper Shotgun as "how political games should be.”
“Acres of emotion and social subtext (…) The sense of dread never lets up.”
You're Abigail Thoreau, a staffer hired to work on the 2016 presidential campaign for Undonald Not-trump. You're the gay daughter of an immigrant and a racist arsehole, and you don't know what you're getting into [LIE]. You don't know who he really is [LIE]. You believe you can make a difference if you play this right. It is an ordeal. This was supposed to be a brief news post, but once I got started I had to see it through. This is apt. Abigail's path through this story can take different side streets, but heads in the same general direction. It crosses abuse, heartbreak, death, power, youtube radicalisation, and a lot of introspection. Though it follows the rise of a fictionalised tangerine mega-baby to the seat of American political power, it tells a deeply personal story that's not really about him at all. And it knows you're not going into this as blind as Abigail is.There are acres of emotional and social subtext fit into this condensed story, and it hits far too many levels of uncomfortable reality to be taken lightly. The sense of dread never lets up, never more so than during Non-ald's all too familiar sudden acts of kindness: some calculated, some just the arbitrary whims of the overindulged egomaniac.
I keep pausing between paragraphs to acknowledge to myself that it will probably be a few days before the mess it stirred up will settle in my thorax. That's how political games should be, frankly.
"Haunting, emotional and immersive."- The Indie Game Website
"A relentless series of blows. It does this very well. Twists of phrase bite; mirrored images echo. It hurts.”- Andrew Plotkin
"If a generation from now someone asks me what it was like watching the rise of Trump’s America, I might just show them this."- Jefferson Toal
"One of the most important indie games that you can experience this year."-Â Game Curator
AMERICAN ELECTION invites the player to the heart of a presidential campaign of ambition and nightmare.
Take on the role of Abigail Thoreau, campaign assistant to the controversial, enigmatic candidate Truman Glass.
Election night approaches. The end approaches. Power approaches.
