I have to take MP! Players ‘discuss’ UK politicians in Pokémon game | Sports

The year is 2016 and Pokémon Go has taken over the world. People wander long distances, disrupting concertsand fall in the trees while trying to draw cute cartoon creatures.

Ten years later, a new generation is flocking to other games inspired by Pokémon. But instead of Pikachu, Charizard and Blastoise, players are catching and training their politicians to form their own parties. Some MPs hold their own.

Politidex is a free mobile game where players can create their ragtag team of cabinet members and backbenchers. Starting from their own area, players travel through areas where there are bad MPs and councillors, hoping to “catch them all” and become the biggest party in the UK.

The game was officially launched on 6 May, and currently has more than 18,000 participants, including all 650 MPs and thousands of councillors. Within a week, players have already fought more than 45,000 battles and “captured” more than 17,000 politicians.

Unlike traditional Pokémon battles, players must “fight” a wild politician to find them. Players can check their opponent’s health team, which is now a “legal approval”, and the army of the parliament: the number of questions on PMQs, calling for a re-reading, or weakening them with embarrassing words.

Senior parliamentarians, such as Diane Abbott, provide a breakdown and high-level activities such as “select committee” and “plan”. Some politicians move those who oppose their arguments or arguments, including Ed Miliband’s “bacon sandwich” or Angela Rayner’s “second home”, which is later. Thursday’s revelation of the HMRC investigation it was changed in the game to “liberation”.

Some MPs are rarely seen, such as Keir Starmer or Nigel Farage. Others open a more powerful movement: Rachel Blake, MP for the City of London and Westminster, could cause a serious problem with her signature: “international sanctions”.

The creator of Politidex is 28-year-old Fred Parry. A contestant on Dragons Den, his full-time job is running Chicken Rush, a real-life hide-and-seek game he launched in 2022.

From the beginning of the development process, Parry wanted to avoid games that contradicted the MPs or showed violence towards the politicians. “I was very careful to make sure that the MPs were not afraid to be part of it. I wanted (the war) not to be part of politics.”

Parry hopes that Politidex will help to “humanize” politics, educating people about political networks in their communities and across the country.

“A lot of people are suspicious of all politicians, which is sad,” he said. “We hope this is a way to change the story. Instead of trying to defeat politicians and bring them down, you’re just catching them and educating them, which sounds fun.”

The inspiration for Politidex happened on April Fool’s Day. Parry said: “I was thinking: What’s the stupidest idea I have, that I can build quickly? The idea was always that you could ‘catch’ your local MP. Pokémon is a game that became very popular, it’s a game that I grew up with.

Parry spent a month building Politidex, using AI to create software and games at low cost. “I was open and honest about using AI tools in the graphics. As a result, there has been a bit of controversy, and I really feel sorry for that. But the game wouldn’t exist without those tools, so it’s a catch-22.”

The local election made the project even more important. “I realized that we will have people who don’t know their MP, over time, even I thought: “Wait, I don’t know the name of my local MP. I forgot. I can’t name one candidate.”

“I found myself learning a lot about where other councilors are,” said actor Will, a 19-year-old art student in south-east London. “It can be a great tool to get to know your local MPs or councillors, or just get to know politicians across the country.”

The response from Westminster has been “very positive”, according to Parry. “We’ve had MPs hold their own, it’s amazing. They sent a message saying this is funny.”

Parry wanted the game to be “neutral and chaotic,” especially when faced with divisive politicians. “Nigel Farage has a reform called ‘border control’, which is politically charged.

He added: “I just thought that, if we are going to be very angry about politics, very frustrated with politicians, quick to judge what they want – maybe you should know their names in advance, as an important thing.