Influence, Inc review – a mesmerising dive into the world of public manipulation

Curious Bird; PC, Mac
Your job is to manage a digital influencing agency with commercial and political clients - and ethical challenges

Remember when Boris Johnson revealed he likes to paint wine crates to resemble buses? Or, more recently, when he warned citizens off working from home lest they become distracted by cheese? Quirky, on-brand soundbites or a calculated ploy to bury less favourable search engine results about Brexit buses and cheese and wine lockdown parties? By the time you've finished Influence, Inc, a game in which you manage a digital influence agency" to manipulate the public into everything from buying a particular brand of soft drink to voting in a despot, you'll be left in little doubt.

You start out small, directing a team behind a series of fake social media accounts to make certain hashtags trend, or boost positive messages and downplay negatives for your modest roster of clients. Soon you gain access to new tools, such as the Viraliser, which can transform a staid press release into meme-worth content, or the Leaker, which allows you to share information directly with different media outlets.