Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗The Prime Minister's Crest: Path to Power
WAWELLC · Published by WAWELLC
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
A political simulation visual novel set in a severe post-bubble economic crisis. As newly elected governor Kazuma Oreki, allocate tight budgets to resolve economic, security, and welfare issues. Navigate complex factional politics and ultimately forge your path to the Prime Minister's seat.
Adventure, Indie, RPG, Simulation, Strategy · More free games
About this game
In an alternate-history Japan, the bursting of the economic bubble has triggered a massive, decade-long recession known as the "Great Stagnation." In this seemingly endless crisis, a man named Kazuma Oreki steps into the glaring eyes of the public. Leading the newly formed National Congress Party, he begins his journey from a regional governor, paving his path step-by-step toward the seat of the Prime Minister.
With society on the brink of collapse, public demands on the government have grown increasingly radical. Facing the opposition of capital, partisan struggles, public unrest, fierce competition for resources, and dangerous entanglements—every seemingly insignificant decision you make will profoundly impact the futures of countless people.
[Key Features: The Ultimate Game of Power and Survival]
Hardcore Fiscal Management on the Brink of Bankruptcy: Budgets are never infinite. You start with extremely limited fiscal points. Beware: cross the red line of deficit, and the government goes bankrupt, ending your political career instantly. Balancing the books on the edge of a cliff is a mandatory lesson for any leader.
Policy Dilemmas with No Perfect Solutions: Politics is the art of compromise and a zero-sum game. You cannot please everyone. Trying to stay neutral and offend no one will often leave you empty-handed.
Complex Factional Undercurrents and Staff Cultivation: In this labyrinth of power, never be deceived by appearances.
Taboo Romance Simulation Entwined with Power and Desire: At the highest echelons of power, emotion is often a dangerous bargaining chip. Experience a tension-filled taboo romance, engaging in dangerous entanglements with characters of sensitive status. In the game of power, love is both a weapon and a vulnerability.
Deep Narrative and Immersive Presentation: This is no simple spreadsheet simulator. You will experience a million-word visual novel intertwining power, betrayal, and conviction. At every oppressive crossroads of decision-making, you will personally write your own path to the Prime Minister's seat.
Branching Routes and Multiple Endings: Your political path will never have just one answer. Different policy choices, power relationships, fiscal conditions, approval ratings, and personal relationships may all lead Oriki Kazuma toward completely different futures. Will he become a reformer who turns the tide, a realist who preserves order, or fall in the struggle for power—even to the point of death? Every path is shaped by your own decisions.
Character Motives Hidden Behind Political Positions: In political struggles, no one is simply an “ally” or an “enemy.” Interests and political positions are certainly important, but each character’s background, personality, ambition, fears, and weaknesses will also influence their judgment and actions. You will need to uncover their true motives through the story, character profiles, and subtle details in dialogue, then decide whom to trust, whom to win over, and whom to abandon within the narrow gaps of power.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5-7500 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or better
- Memory: 8192 MB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 / AMD Radeon RX 560 (2 GBVRAM) or better
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 5120 MB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX-compatible sound card
- VR Support: Not required
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Update #2
Hello everyone, I'm Houkuko.First of all, thank you again to everyone who has played the demo and shared feedback through Steam reviews and the community discussions.Over the past few days, I have continued improving the demo based on your reports and suggestions. This update mainly focuses on UI usability, dialogue flow, localization, and several issues reported by players.New Features & ImprovementsAdded the ability to view the required budget points for each proposal during the budget meeting.Added the ability to adjust previously selected budget allocations before finalizing the budget proposal.Added a Settings button during dialogue scenes, allowing players to exit or change settings without waiting for the conversation to end.Added additional UI sound effects to improve interaction feedback.Bug FixesFixed an issue where Prefecture Status descriptions would sometimes fail to appear.Fixed an issue where English newspaper text could overlap or become obscured.Fixed dialogue progression occasionally becoming unresponsive or stuttering.Fixed the extra space appearing after apostrophes (') in the English localization.Corrected incomplete or inconsistent translations in the Chinese, Japanese, and English versions.Ongoing DevelopmentI am continuing to improve the demo based on your feedback.Current priorities include:Expanding the playable content after the first budget proposal.Improving tutorials and gameplay guidance.Improving UI responsiveness and overall user experience.Making policy consequences and system feedback clearer.Expanding map interactions and visual feedback.Thank you once again for your support and patience. I will continue updating the demo while working toward the full release.Read full article on Community Announcements (Houkuko)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Update Notes
Hello everyone, this is Houkuko.First of all, thank you very much to everyone who played the demo of The Prime Minister's Crest: Path to Power during Steam Next Fest. As an independent developer, receiving feedback from the community, reviews, and discussion boards means a great deal to me. Whether it was bug reports, UI suggestions, or comments about the game’s content and system experience, your feedback has helped me better understand which parts of the current demo need improvement.In order to respond to this feedback as quickly as possible, I have prepared a demo update focused mainly on improving the basic gameplay experience. This update is not the final round of adjustments, but rather the first round of fixes and improvements for issues that have been frequently mentioned so far.Additions and ImprovementsAdded full-screen display support.Added a skip function for previously read text, allowing already-read lines to be skipped more smoothly.Added an unread text notification to help players distinguish between read and unread content.Made initial improvements to the game guidance, especially in sections where players were unsure how to proceed.Improved the landscape display of the newspaper interface, making news content easier to read.Improved parts of the UI display and overall usability.FixesFixed text display stuttering in some scenes.Fixed an issue where some choices did not respond or trigger correctly.Fixed an issue where the dialogue phase could become stuck in certain situations.Revised some Japanese text, including wording, typos, and unnatural translations.Fixed some windowed mode display issues, including incomplete layouts and abnormal positioning.Fixed an issue where some English choice text was not fully displayed.Future PlansI will continue improving the game based on player feedback, including game guidance, UI, map interactivity, the presentation of choices and branching, and text pacing.Thank you again for your support and feedback. The dem...Read full article on Community Announcements (Houkuko)AnnouncementsOfficial
Development Roadmap
Hello everyone.The demo for The Prime Minister's Crest: Path to Power is now available. I am Houkuko, the solo developer of this game. First of all, thank you to everyone who has downloaded the demo, played it, added the game to your wishlist, or shared your feedback.The current demo mainly presents the opening atmosphere of the game, the crisis facing the prefectural government, early political choices, and part of the administrative decision-making system. Future development will focus on expanding the content, improving the systems, strengthening the presentation, and refining the overall gameplay experience.Below is the current development roadmap.■ Phase 1: Demo Feedback and Basic Experience ImprovementsIn the early period after the demo release, I will prioritize issues that affect the player experience, including:Text errors, typos, and unnatural wordingUI display, option descriptions, and information promptsBalance adjustments for values and certain choice outcomesSave/load issues, flow problems, and pacing improvementsRevisions to the Chinese, Japanese, and English textsThe goal of this phase is to make the current demo more stable and clearer, while helping players better understand the core gameplay and political structure of the game.■ Phase 2: Main Story and Prefectural Government Chapter ExpansionAfter that, the main focus will be expanding the core story content.The early part of the game revolves around prefectural politics. Players will face fiscal pressure, industrial decline, worsening public security, aging infrastructure, and political pressure from different interest groups.In future chapters, I plan to add:More prefectural government meetings and policy choicesFurther appearances of business groups, labor representatives, bureaucrats, religious groups, agricultural groups, and other political forcesConsequences based on different political routesMore complex fiscal and deficit pressureKey events that influence the player’s future political pat...Read full article on Community Announcements (Houkuko)
