Politics are simultaneously inherently hilarious and serious. On the one hand, the outcome of elections impacts almost every facet of a person’s life, from what rights they have to life or death decisions. The process of deciding a government is foundational to society, and its importance cannot be overstated.

On the other hand, the process by which governments are chosen is a ridiculous one. From the outside, there is the common sentiment that politicians can’t be trusted and that they’ll say or do anything to get elected. We recognise that the system rewards those who can be the most outrageous or the most convincing, which is an entirely different skill from actual governance. Democracy is less the process of selecting a competent - or even representative - government, and more the process of placing into power the people who feel they most deserve to be there.

That governments have so much power when politics are so inherently absurd is itself hilarious. It doesn’t take much to add to that absurdity. Any game that chooses to be a comedy in a political sphere more or less has half its work done for it by the setting alone.

This game is from 2016. Can you tell?

Cat President is a political dating sim set in a world where politicians have been replaced by cats. You play as the campaign manager of one of six presidential campaigns, each headed by its own cat-nidate and with its own nuances and storyline. Each of the cats is his own distinct person, and each tells his own story of his journey through the political process.

Classifying Cat President purely as a dating sim is a bit misleading. Unlike other dating sims , the player doesn’t get the option of shopping around or flirting with multiple potential partners. Once they’ve made their choice, they stick with that particular storyline until its conclusion. Within a particular storyline choice, the gameplay is fairly linear, consisting of a few binary choices that determine which of three endings the story will have, but do very little in terms of branching narratives. More than anything, it’s a visual novel about human-cat romance during a presidential campaign.

This is probably true of meeting most people.

The strength of Cat President lies in its writing and its ability to weave humour and political satire into a genuinely sweet story. Its writing and dialogue are keenly aware of the absurdity of its premise, both in the sense of cat politicians, and the ins and outs of politics as a whole. The game constantly pokes fun at the political process, but masks it criticisms and commentary behind pictures of cute cats. Commentary on xenophobia and racism in immigration policy, for example, become more palatable to discuss when the one doing the discussing is a dog wearing cat ears and insisting he’s legally a cat. The role of PACs and dark money become more entertaining to consider when their source is a sneering picture of one of the devs. Cat President, in reframing politics through an inherently absurd lens, is able to shed a new light on the accepted absurdity of democracy itself.

It’s only a little absurd.

Cat President is clearly a product of the 2016 presidential elections. Some cats and political supporters strongly represent certain parties and politicians. It’s in the ideals Cat President holds and the perspective it offers on the inherent absurdity of democracy, though, that I find it more interesting. The world has changed since 2016. It’s become more cynical, more authoritarian, and less interested in good faith political discourse. In many ways, Cat President reflects this ethos, through satirical dialogue about fire hydrants and chew toys, but also in the very premise of its world. It’s a game that both faithfully believes in democracy, and sees its current incarnation for the farce that it is. It’s a surprisingly insightful and sincere game for a dating sim of cat politicians.

#roverdefinitecat

Developer: Oh, A Rock! Studios

Genre: Dating Sim, Visual Novel

Year: 2016

Country: United States

Language: English

Play Time: 45 Minutes/Playthrough

Youtube: https://youtu.be/q5hyoPl7fDw