Manchester developer's UK politics mobile game beats Minecraft

A mobile game made by a developer in Manchester has recently beaten the global phenomenon Minecraft to top Apple's paid games chart.

Its success is perhaps even more surprising given its subject matter - UK politics.

No 10: Full Confidence by Benjamin Brewis sees players take on the role of prime minister, making decisions through a wave of parliamentary scenarios and trying to remain in power for as long as possible.

The success of Brewis's app, and the creation of others like it, suggests the dramatic recent ebb and flow of Westminster may have inspired a popular new sub-genre.

In No 10: Full Confidence, players who take on the precarious position of prime minister must balance the moods of four factions - their cabinet, backbenchers, the media, and the public - to remain in the game. Decisions are made across more than 300 fictional political scenarios, handwritten by Brewis.

The storylines range from the mundane - dealing with GP appointment waiting times - to the absurd.

"I have a two or three-part storyline where a dog is let loose into the House of Lords by a lobbyist during a vet bill and that spirals out of control," Brewis said.

Each scenario asks players to pick one action from three choices on the screen, with each potentially upsetting or pleasing the different factions.

Much like in real life, if one side completely turns against you your political career is finished.

While some situations may sound farcical, Brewis said he had plenty of real life examples to draw on as inspiration.

"I'd remember that MP who had a spider that he'd threaten MPs with, or when Boris Johnson walked into a fridge. I'm frantically writing them all down."

My first attempt at playing prime minister in No 10: Full Confidence hasn't left me considering a Westminster career.

As my chosen candidate, Verity Grimshaw, I start off strong, managing to survive a crisis in which thousands of A-level students receive the wrong grades.

I only manage to stay in the post for one year and nine months, taken out - somewhat ironically given my actual job - by a complete lack of trust by the press.

Unfortunately, a cabinet minister resigns and publishes a three-page-long letter that contains the phrase "the PM was warned" four times.

This letter being read out in full on BBC Radio 4 turns out to be the last straw for poor Verity.

My final choice in the game of "respond directly, address every point, don't let it sit unanswered", seemingly does not go down very well.

Brewis says some users have fared a lot better than my sorry effort.

"Someone has stayed in for 1,885 months, which is 157 years," he says. "I'm not sure if that's a democracy any more."

Brewis said he was inspired to begin creating the app around December 2025, when "it was all kicking off" with former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and talk of potential challenges to his leadership was starting to grow.

"I remember thinking at the time, someone should just start taking the mick out of this," he said. "We've had so many prime ministers - it's funny now."

Five different people have occupied No 10 since 2016 - three in the space of just over three years, and one for just 49 days.

Dr Russell Foster, a lecturer in British and International Politics at King's College London, said the "churn of prime ministers" and growing presence of politics on social media could also help explain why Westminster is suddenly appearing on our devices.