Democracy 3

Democracy 3 is a politics simulation game where you are the leader of the country (finally a chance to see what all the fuss is about)! When you set the game up you will get to choose which country you want from a number of options, and you’ll set various other options before you jump in.

I will be the first to hold my hands up and say that I know very little about politics, much less than I should know. Despite this, something about Democracy 3 makes me keep coming back for more.

You will spend most of your time staring at the same screen, which shows you all the laws that are in place, all the problems you suffer, all the situations that are happening, as well as your popularity with the various demographics. To me this screen is reminiscent of a mind map (going back to my primary school days now) where there are the different sections; transport, law and order, public services, tax, economy, welfare and foreign policy.

How it works is that you have a set amount of “Political Capital” each turn, which you then spend on implementing new policies, or changing/cancelling existing ones. This is going to be a true test of your management skills, as you will find at the beginning of your term in office that the country is facing plenty of problems for you to tackle. As well as that, you also need to be wary of your funds – the economy will take a serious downfall if you allow the country’s deficit to get too out of hand!

Each turn will show you how the state of the country has changed following your policy changes, as well as informing you of any situations that arise. And you will also be informed by any potential plots that might be underway … it’s impossible to keep everyone happy, and some groups may resort to extreme measures if they are displeased with your leadership.

On top of this, your cabinet members may decide they don’t like the way you’re leading the country – something you’ll want to keep an eye on! Your cabinet members are the ones who generate your Political Capital, and they will generate less for you as they get more displeased with your actions. Each one has loyalties to different demographics, and if they don’t like you, then the cabinet member won’t like you either. If you can’t satisfy them, you’d better get someone else in who is more suited to your play style!

It can be very tricky to keep everything perfectly balanced – there will almost always be something that comes out of no where to throw a spanner in the works! I could be running a perfect country, and yet someone (usually capitalists…) will still see fit to plan my assassination.

Election day is the other possible way for your leadership to come to an end – as important as it is to make changes that are beneficial to the country, you also have to bear in mind what the voters think! Implementing too many policies that annoy the public will spell disaster for you once election day comes around.

So all in all, this has become one of my favourite simulation games – and I daresay it’s even managed to teach me a thing or two about politics!