Not For Broadcast is a full motion video (FMV) indie game developed by British studio NotGames and published by tinyBuild. At first glance, it looks like a simple newsroom simulator. You’re sat behind a broadcast desk, switching between cameras and bleeping out swear words. In reality, it’s one of the smartest political satire games released in years.
Instead of firing guns or collecting loot, you’re editing the evening news live on air while the country slowly slips towards authoritarianism. Every camera angle, headline and advert you choose shapes how the public sees the world. It’s stressful, funny, and surprisingly thought provoking, but in a George Orwell 1984 way.
Story and Narrative
The game takes place in an alternate version of Britain during the 1980s after a landslide election brings the radical Advance party into power. You aren’t a journalist or politician. You’re just the unlucky janitor who ends up running the control room after everyone else disappears.
The story unfolds through live television broadcasts. Politicians give speeches, celebrities cause chaos, musicians perform, and breaking news arrives while you’re desperately trying to keep everything on air.
What makes Not For Broadcast special is that it never tells you exactly what to think. The government claims it’s improving the country, while opposition groups insist democracy is disappearing. Both sides make convincing arguments, and your broadcasts slowly influence who gains public support.
Outside the newsroom, your own family is caught in the middle of the country’s political changes. The decisions you make at work don’t stay at work. They shape your personal life and eventually lead towards one of many different endings. The game features 14 major endings, giving your choices genuine weight.
Gameplay
The gameplay revolves around producing a live television broadcast.
You constantly swap between four camera feeds, trying to capture the best shots while avoiding embarrassing moments. At the same time you’re monitoring signal interference, censoring inappropriate language before it reaches viewers, playing adverts during commercial breaks, and selecting which news stories appear on screen.
It sounds manageable until everything starts happening at once.
An interview might suddenly turn into an argument while your broadcast signal begins breaking up, someone swears live on television, and you’ve only got seconds to pick the next advert before returning from the break.
Every broadcast feels like spinning plates.
Your performance affects viewing figures and your wages, but the more interesting decisions happen behind the scenes. Do you protect the government by hiding uncomfortable footage, or do you show the public exactly what’s happening?
The game constantly rewards quick thinking without ever feeling unfair. Once you settle into the rhythm, it becomes surprisingly addictive.
Style and Presentation
Not For Broadcast fully commits to its television concept.
Rather than animated characters, almost every scene is filmed with real actors. The performances are excellent throughout, ranging from serious political debates to completely ridiculous comedy sketches.
The production values are far higher than most indie FMV games. It genuinely feels like you’re watching an old British television station from the 1980s.
The control room itself is packed with switches, monitors and analogue equipment. Everything has a satisfying physical feel, making you believe you’re sitting behind an actual broadcast desk.
The soundtrack deserves credit too. Between broadcasts you’ll hear catchy parody songs, fake adverts and television jingles that perfectly capture the era. The humour lands far more often than it misses.
Themes and Ideas
Beneath all the jokes, Not For Broadcast asks some uncomfortable questions.
How much influence does television have over public opinion?
Can editing footage change the truth?
Is censorship ever justified?
Rather than preaching at the player, the game lets you answer these questions yourself. Every broadcast subtly nudges the country in one direction or another.
It also explores propaganda without becoming heavy handed. You quickly realise that what you leave out can matter just as much as what you decide to show.
For a game built around pressing buttons in a control room, it’s remarkably clever.
Strengths
The biggest strength is its originality.
There really aren’t many games like this. The idea of making live television production into an engaging gameplay loop sounds impossible until you actually play it.
The writing is consistently sharp, balancing absurd British humour with genuinely tense political drama.
The FMV performances are fantastic, giving every broadcast personality and making even smaller characters memorable.
Finally, the sheer amount of player choice gives the game excellent replay value. Different broadcasts, different political decisions and multiple endings make repeat playthroughs worthwhile.
Weaknesses
The biggest issue is the learning curve.
Early broadcasts can feel overwhelming as the game throws multiple mechanics at you simultaneously. New players will almost certainly make mistakes.
Some later sections also become extremely chaotic. While that’s partly the point, it occasionally feels like you’re fighting the controls instead of making meaningful decisions.
Players looking for constant action may also struggle with the slower narrative heavy pacing between broadcasts.
Final Verdict
Not For Broadcast is one of the most inventive indie games of the last decade.
It transforms something as ordinary as editing the evening news into a tense strategy game where every decision matters. The brilliant writing, memorable performances and genuinely meaningful choices keep you hooked from beginning to end.
It’s funny without becoming silly, political without becoming preachy, and stressful in all the right ways.
If you’re tired of games that all follow the same formula, this is exactly the kind of experience worth seeking out.
Rating: 7.8 / 10
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