government simulation game
A government simulation or political simulation is a game that attempts to simulate the government and politics of all or part of a nation. These games may include geopolitical situations (involving the formation and execution of foreign policy), ...
that was first developed by Positech Games in 2005, with a sequel released in December 2007, a third game in 2013 and a fourth in 2022. The player plays as if they are the
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
or
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
of a democratic government. The player must introduce and alter policies in seven areas – tax, economy, welfare, foreign policy, transport, law and order and public services. Each policy has an effect on the happiness of various voter groups, as well as affecting factors such as crime and air quality. The player has to deal with "situations", which are typically problems such as petrol protests or homelessness, and also has to make decisions on dilemmas that arise each turn.
Gameplay
After deciding which nation to play as, the player must win the support of various factions which make up the
electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806
* An electoral district
An ...
parents
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
,
capitalists
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private pr ...
,
socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...
, liberals, conservatives and others, and thus win the ensuing elections that take place. The player introduces policies and uses sliders to change the amount of
government funding
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, level of a tax or generally the law and regulations in that particular area. Of course, because each individual person belongs to several factions (e.g.: a
Poor
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
person who is also a Drinker), it is practically impossible to control all the voters. Before each
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, two promises are made by the player to the electorate (e.g.: reduce
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
by 10%). If the player has not kept these promises by the next election, the people become annoyed and
cynicism
Cynic or Cynicism may refer to:
Modes of thought
* Cynicism (philosophy), a school of ancient Greek philosophy
* Cynicism (contemporary), modern use of the word for distrust of others' motives
Books
* ''The Cynic'', James Gordon Stuart Grant 1 ...
increases.
To make policy changes, the player must spend political capital, which is earned by loyal ministers.
The player must also try to balance the
budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
and pay off the country's debts without losing votes and causing
tax evasion
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
due to very high taxes.
There are also many events, dilemmas and situations in the game which the player must deal with. An example of an event might be the curing of a
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
, a dilemma may be whom to appoint as a senior judge and a situation may be high levels of
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
. An event happens, sometimes due to policies however the player doesn't take part; they simply profit or suffer from it. A dilemma is an important decision which must be resolved for the turn to be ended and situations are ongoing conditions which must be dealt with or helped and enjoyed.
Modding
The games designer has described the code behind the game as being based on a
neural network
A neural network is a network or circuit of biological neurons, or, in a modern sense, an artificial neural network, composed of artificial neurons or nodes. Thus, a neural network is either a biological neural network, made up of biological ...
. This has allowed the game to be very easily modded, and most of the 'game logic' in it is openly editable in simple text CSV files, allowing players to change the way the core mechanics of the game operate. A number of mods have been released for both the first and second game in the series, and are generally released on the Positech forum. Mods have included new countries (and real countries for ''Democracy 2'') and the addition of factors such as inflation, as well as enhancement of the voter cynicism factor in ''Democracy 2''.
Sequels
Democracy 2
A sequel to the game was released in December 2007, which, while very similar to the original in terms of gameplay, differs in that it uses fictional nations. It has numerous new features, including cabinet ministers, more policy debates, and real-world statistical data.
Democracy 3
In October 2013, ''Democracy 3'' was released. In late 2015 Positech announced an 'expandalone' for the game set entirely in Africa, with a different simulation model, music and graphics entitled ''Democracy 3: Africa''.
Democracy 4
The Alpha Release was made available in early August 2020. The United Kingdom, Germany and United States were initially the only selectable countries to play, with later development granting access to playing as Spain, Italy, Canada, Australia and France. The game was released on October 6, 2020 for early access on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
and
GOG.com
GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through its ...
with the final version being released on January 13, 2022. In addition to the aforementioned countries, Japan and South Korea are playable as well. Supplemental add-ons have been made giving each country unique dynamics with buffs and debuffs as well as new in-game events. Other added touches include making the game warm mod friendly. The game is available on Windows, but remains unavailable on MacOS.
Democracy 4 uses an in-house developed game engine coded in C++ using
Visual Studio
Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including web site, websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platfor ...
by two programmers in the UK, Cliff Harris and Jeff Sheen. Artwork, SFX and Music was provided by third parties. Uses some
middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...
for sound playback, and also to render vector artwork and Unicode fonts.
Release and reception
The original game was released in 2007 in the United States by Tri-Synergy, with added events and policies, and a special mode in which the player controls a fictional nation. The game received "mixed" reviews, according to game aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Website Game Tunnel scored the game 8/10 overall, stating "losing a game of ''Democracy'' is almost as rewarding as winning your next election" and "there is always the motivation to do better next time". The website also awarded ''Democracy'' its own 2005 'Simulation Game of the Year' award. About.com rated the game 3.5/5 and said "''Democracy'' does exactly what it sets out to do - get you thinking about how even small changes effect icdifferent groups of people".
''Democracy 3'' also received "mixed" reviews, according to Metacritic. While Polish magazine ''
CD-Action
''CD-Action'' is a Polish magazine devoted to video games. Its first issue was published on April 1, 1996. In 2005, an unsuccessful attempt was made to introduce the magazine to the Czech market; only one issue was ever published.
References
...
'' stated that the game "does much more for understanding democracy than any citizenship lesson," Daniel Schindel's critical review for ''Unwinnable'' noted several inaccuracies concerning the in-game effects of imposing
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, legalizing drugs, and strong labor laws. A spin-off game, titled ''Democracy 3: Africa'', was quietly released in early 2016. The game focused entirely on nations on the continent of Africa and added features to address the corruption, authoritarianism, military dictatorships, and
female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
that is abundant on the continent. Players are tasked with fixing these issues, or regressing further into a dictatorship.
In September 2018, Positech Games announced an updated version of the game, in the form of ''Democracy 4'', which was released in early access in 2020. This title, as with the spin-off, ''Democracy: Africa'', was produced by a joint venture between Positech Games and Stargazy Studios. In addition to ''Democracy: Africa'', Stargazy previously provided translation and
localization
Localization or localisation may refer to:
Biology
* Localization of function, locating psychological functions in the brain or nervous system; see Linguistic intelligence
* Localization of sensation, ability to tell what part of the body is a ...
services for ''Democracy 3''. New features added to ''Democracy 4'' included simulated corruption, crackdowns on political freedoms and free speech, and even authoritarianism. Events and decisions in the game were updated to reflect the passage of time between the release of ''Democracy 3'' and ''Democracy 4''.