Reviewing "The Long Game" for "The A.V. Club" in 2013, Alasdair Wilkins gave it a grade of "B-". He found it "inessential" and commented that it was not very clear on the motives of the Editor and Jagrafess, but Pegg's performance was almost enough to make up for it. Overall he felt that the story "presents a few too many simple ideas, with the cumulative effect that this is a story that feels slight at best, underdeveloped at worst. The episode is hardly a failure, but it could have been so much more." In "Who Is the Doctor", a guide to the revived series, Graeme Burk described the episode as "entertaining, if unspectacular." He called Pegg the best guest star so far, and stated that Langley did a "superb job" at conveying Adam, but he felt that the episode did not have much else beside the failed companion storyline. Burk criticised the satire for not being subtle enough and borrowing from other stories such as "Nineteen Eighty-Four". He also remarked that it was a shame Adam's motives were cut, as well as development between Rose and Adam. Burk's coauthor Robert "?" is part of his "nom de plume" was more positive, opining that a satire did not have to be subtle to be effective, and that viewers could still relate it to the news media today. He also praised the way "The Long Game" showed the Ninth Doctor as an "inspirational figure." The two also questioned the decision to leave Adam in the 21st century with future technology.