Green Benches guide

STEP BY STEP

1. Set up a new game in four steps: choose an election (from 1923 to 2024), a party, a character (MP with a constituency, or a peer) and a role (government or opposition, party leader or backbencher). Random career fills in all four at once.
2. Each turn starts with news, events and decisions, and Prime Minister's Questions when the House is sitting.
3. Act during your turn: draft and steer bills, vote in divisions, present a Budget, run your party, campaign, work your constituency or negotiate with other parties.
4. Press Next Turn. Polls, the economy, approval, membership and the order paper react to what you did.
5. Bills go through Commons stages, Lords stages and Royal Assent. Whips and rebellions decide close divisions.
6. Use the Whip Office or an MP's record card to warn a restless MP privately or offer an olive branch. Both cost political capital.
7. Switch the chamber between the 3D view and the 2D seat chart. The whips' view colours MPs by mood, so you can see trouble before a vote.
8. A career ends by retirement, accepting a peerage, losing your seat or leaving the Speaker's chair, and is then stored in the Hall of Fame.
9. Try the six historic challenges, such as A New Dawn (1992, Labour, win a majority) or Hanging On (2017, Conservatives, five bills to Royal Assent before the next election).

CONTROLS

• Mouse or touch for all menus, the chamber and dialogs.
• Keyboard works in every dialog.
• Tap or click an MP in the chamber to open their record card, or search by name or constituency.

DIFFICULTY

Set by the scenario and the side you choose. A small party in opposition is far harder than a governing party with a majority. The How to Play guide, an onboarding tour, tooltips and a glossary introduce the systems.

STRATEGY

• Start as a governing party with a majority to learn the systems before trying a minority or a small party.
• Check the whips' mood view before every important division and spend political capital on the MPs most likely to rebel.
• After a division, colour the House by the vote to see who rebelled; their record card shows it too.
• Only a serving Prime Minister can call an early election, so time it for when the polls favour you.
• Keep an eye on your own constituency — losing your seat ends the career, even as party leader.
• Select committees can open inquiries into policy, which is a way for backbenchers and the opposition to gain influence.
• In online rooms (2–4 players) turns have a 90-second timer, so plan your moves while others play.

AVOID THESE MISTAKES

• Pushing many controversial bills at once and burning through party unity.
• Ignoring factions until a leadership challenge or defection threat appears.
• Forgetting the Lords: a bill that passes the Commons can still stall in ping-pong between the chambers.
• Counting the Speaker and Sinn Féin MPs in your majority — neither votes.
• Calling an election on a poll lead that the economy is about to erase.

DEVICES

Desktop, tablet and phone in the browser. English only. Every politician and party member in the game is fictional; election starting points use real historical results.

ACCESSIBILITY

Keyboard navigation, reduced-motion options, scalable text and 2D alternatives to the 3D chambers.

CHANGELOG

• 2026-09 — 2024 constituency map and visible by-election results.
• 2026-09 — Historical fiscal rules, devolved elections, seven-step onboarding and accessibility fixes.
• 2026-09 — Achievements linked to your TrySomeGames account; pop-ups also show in fullscreen.
• 2026-09 — Fullscreen button and a redesigned play bar.

GAME DATA

Scores and achievements are saved to your account only if you are signed in. Guests play without an account; nothing is stored beyond your browser.

MORE GUIDES