Players advance bills, use veto power, and apply judicial review.
Why it may be useful
You play all three branches of government at once, so separation of powers becomes an obstacle you run into rather than a diagram you read. The process is one country's federal system taught at the level of a short lesson, not a deep simulation of how politics actually works.
Written 2026-09-15 · editorial assessment, not a measured effect · how we rate →
What the game is
Branches of Power is a free browser game about how a law is made in the United States. iCivics, a nonprofit that makes civics games for American classrooms, publishes it, and the current version also runs as a free Android app. The game page aims it at grades six through twelve, roughly ages eleven to eighteen.
The unusual move is that you play all three branches at once. On the same screen you set the President's agenda, write and pass bills in Congress, and rule on them in the Supreme Court, switching between the three as a round runs. The goal is easy to state: turn as many of your own bills into law as you can. Sessions are short, there is no account to create, nothing to buy, and no advertising. The presentation is cartoon figures and plain menus rather than simulation detail.
What you actually do
You start by choosing what the President cares about, and by speaking to the public about it. Then you move to Congress and write bills on those issues, which have to line up with what the public wants if they are going to pass. Once a bill passes, you switch to the executive branch and sign it or veto it. Then you put on the judicial hat and decide whether it survives review. The pressure comes from holding all three jobs at once: an agenda that is easy to legislate may be hard to defend in court, and a popular bill may not be the one the President wanted. Playing better means picking bills that can survive all three stages.
What it exercises
Names which branch has the power to take a given action
Traces a bill from proposal through passage, signature, and review
Predicts which branch can block a decision just made
Matches a policy proposal to what the public says it wants
Explains why one branch cannot act alone
Why we rate it Moderate Worksheet score 57 / 100
FitHow much real knowledge or skill does the play itself make you use?62weight 45%
Fit lands at 62. The lesson is the rule set: you cannot make a law without moving through all three branches, so separation of powers is not described to you, it is the obstacle. Few civics products manage that. It is not higher because the game is short and the choices are menu-shaped, so the systems feeling is thinner than a full simulation would give you.
TransferWill what you practise here work outside the game?62weight 30%
Transfer reaches 62, tied with fit. What is practiced here maps directly onto a school civics unit and onto reading the news, which is unusually direct for a browser game. The limit is scope: this is one country's federal process taught at the level of a diagram, so you learn the sequence and the veto and review points, not how committees or party politics actually work.
PracticeDoes the game make you use that skill again and again, as it gets harder?40weight 25%
Practice is the weakest dimension, at 40, and correctly so. The game is short, and once you know the sequence there is little reason to run it again. Replays vary the issues, not the process being learned. Treat it as one good lesson rather than as a game that keeps supplying fresh practice at anything.
Where it has been used in teaching
Documented cases of this game being used with learners. Each one links to its source.
Education editioniCivics · Secondary school · 2020
iCivics, the nonprofit civics-education organization founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, publishes Branches of Power as a free classroom game for grades 6-12 with lesson plans and a Spanish version; iCivics reports its free games and materials reach roughly 145,000 teachers nationwide.
Practice-backedNo published study, but people who answer for the outcome use it: schools, clinics, museums, research labs.
The level here is Practice-backed, and it rests on provenance rather than on measurement. iCivics is a civics-education nonprofit, and the game's own page states learning objectives and target grade bands, which counts as documented educational use. That is not the same as a measured outcome, and we found no study showing that this game raises civics knowledge. The page does confirm what a player does: setting a presidential agenda, speaking to the public, writing legislation, signing or vetoing, and applying judicial review. The claim here is that the game makes the sequence concrete, which follows from the rules a player has to obey.
Editorial assessment - not a measured scientific effect.
Fit
62/100
Transfer
62/100
Practice
40/100
Why it makes the cut
Pass with context — designed for learning, but structured as a playable systems game.
Practice-backed
Practice-backed: iCivics is a civics-education nonprofit that publishes this as a classroom game for grades six through twelve with stated learning objectives, which is documented educational use rather than a measured outcome.
Google Play ↗FreeIn-app purchasesMobile · Checked 2026-08-20
Prices are US store listings in USD, last refreshed 2026-09-25; regional prices and sales differ.
Age guidance
Ages 10+
Topics
History & society
Play styles
Single-player, Simulation
Tags
Civics · Free · Classroom
You cannot pass a law without moving through all three branches, so the rule set carries the lesson, but the game is short, the choices are menu-shaped, and a second run varies the issues rather than the process.
