A Pokémon Go-style game centred on catching and battling UK politicians went viral on social media following the 2026 local elections.
Dragon’s Den contestant and Chicken Rush founder, Fred Parry, created Politidex – a web game that features 18,580 MPs and councillors for players to catch, battle, and collect to build a majority and ‘win the election’.
Parry launched the free game on Wednesday 6 May, hoping that it would help change the public’s relationship with politics after realising he had forgotten his local MPs name.
He said: “It [Politidex] gives people the chance to match politicians they find in the game to the person who’s recently sent a letter through their door, because I think a lot of people in the UK are very used to just picking up political post and putting it straight in the bin.”
In the 2026 local elections, voter turnout was reported at roughly 38%, which has furthered growing concerns about both political engagement and literacy across the UK.
How does it work?
The idea of the game is that players can explore their local area while searching for politicians hiding in long grass, then add them to their collection.
Once caught, politicians claim their home constituency for the players’ party, giving players the option to name and create their own political party.
While playing, gamers can level up their politicians, unlock new battle moves, visit the Press Conference, and find new political figures the further they go from home.
Parry argues that most political disagreements come from the public being misinformed and disillusioned about what is going on and what role politicians play.
He said: “People are very willing to bring [politicians] them down and say they either aren’t doing anything to help the country or they’re doing stuff which damages the country.
“How can everyone universally accept that they don’t care about politics, won’t vote, and won’t remember the name of politicians, but also not do any investigation into what’s going on and refuse to have any interest in it?”
The Dragon’s Den contestant aims to bridge this gap, without trivialising politics, by creating a gateway for people who aren’t informed to learn their constituency and local MP’s name.
Can games make politics more accessible?
And this game isn’t the first of its kind.
In 2017, a group of Labour supporters created CorbynRun – an online game where you play as the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to take money back from the Conservative Party and other opponents.
Although CorbynRun doesn’t share Politidex’s political neutrality, its creators did hold Parry’s aim of encouraging political engagement beyond the traditional pathways.
While the gamification of politics may raise concerns about the trivialisation and reduction of serious topics, Parry hopes to make Politidex more about political accessibility by expanding its features to include MPs’ voting histories and more.
More than 50,000 battles have been fought, and over 20,000 politicians have been caught after Politidex went viral on social media – but this didn’t come without criticism.
Parry has faced backlash for using OpenAI to create the politician’s avatars featured in the game.
The Chicken Rush founder argues the game would not have been possible without the use of AI, as it cut 4 weeks’ worth of work down to a 7-day turnaround.
He said: “It’s an exciting time where going from idea to potential product is the shortest amount of time that it has ever been.”
In response to the criticism, Parry is seeking artists who will be paid and receive full credit with links back to their work, to replace all the avatars with real, hand-drawn art.
There is also an option to ‘adopt an MP’, with donated funds going directly into commissioning avatars from artists.
Why familiarity matters in politics
Amidst the backlash, Parry made one point strikingly clear – politicians are some of the most important strangers in our lives, and knowing more about them, even just their name, can play a big part in the public not hating them by proxy.
He added: “It seems controversial to say this in the UK, but I’m sure tons of MPs are really tired and actually working really hard.
“Out of the 650 [MPs], the odds that all of them are terrible are really slim.”
And some political figures have come out in support of the game and its ambitions.
Adam Thompson, Labour MP for Erewash, gave his thoughts on Parry’s post about Politidex.
He said: “By putting me in a video game, you have made my year.
“Thank you so much, I feel like Tony Hawk.”
Featured Image Credit: Fred Parry
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