A president simulator game for iPhone and iPad, played as a joke

Star-Spangled Tycoon is a president simulator game with a sense of humour, and it is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. You play a parody candidate who wants the top job. The way you get there is by building businesses, earning money and winning elections. It is a simulator in the loose, comic sense: you make the decisions a campaign would face, such as what to spend on next and when to call an election, but the game never pretends to be a realistic model of government.

The core of the game is an idle tycoon loop. You tap to earn your first dollars, then your businesses keep earning on their own, even while the app is closed. When you come back, your offline earnings are waiting. The full game has 5 worlds and 50 businesses, and each world adds a new mechanic. You can upgrade businesses, hire managers and work toward the next milestone. The choices start small and get bigger as the numbers grow.

The president part comes from the election mechanic. When you hold an election you reset your progress in exchange for a lasting bonus, so each new run moves faster than the last. Along the way you will meet a Cabinet of cartoon politicians, collect achievements and follow a rotating calendar of 31 limited events. If you want a game where the goal is a title and the route is a pile of patriotic businesses, this is it.

The app is free to download, and the in-app purchases are optional. Everything in the game can also be earned by playing. The iPhone and iPad app has no banner or full-screen ads. Watching a short rewarded video is optional and gives a bonus. Progress is saved on your device, and on iPhone and iPad it also uses iCloud sync. If you would rather try it without installing anything, there is also a browser version at the play page, though the App Store app is the main way to play.

This is a parody, and it stays that way. The characters are fictional cartoons, the jokes are aimed at politics in general, and nothing in the game represents a real politician, party or election. You do not need to follow the news or know how any government works. If you like short check-ins, small decisions and a joke at the centre, give it a session or two and see whether the campaign loop suits you.