   
The Ultimate Political Strategy Game. Democracy
is an intelligent, sophisticated and entertaining game, but
also teaches you a thing or two about politics. You may think that
politics is all about sticking to your principles no matter what, but the
simulation in this game is specifically designed to show you just how easily
even the most honest politician will be forced to compromise in order to stay in
power and keep the economy strong.
Democracy makes no attempt to talk down to its players. Do you know any other
computer games that mix in quotes from Plato,
Gandhi and Napoleon in their loading screens? When
people play this game they come away with an understanding of the relative GDP's
of different nations, the forces in play in a modern political system, and
probably a few famous political quotations.. Wouldn't you rather your kids
learned something from the games they play?
Democracy starts with you as President (or Prime-Minister) of a modern
country. The country is a run as a simple democracy where you need to get over
50% of the vote each election in order to remain in power. The object of the
game is to stay in power as long as possible (there are no limits as to how many
terms you may be elected president).
"Games
such as democracy are an important step forward in the evolution of education" -
Kristofer Poland, Instructor of Political Science, Ohio University
Democracy is a detailed simulation game that is 'turn based' where each turn
of the game represents 3 months of time. Elections are held every 4 years. The
game has a complex internal model to represent the population of your country. A
large number of different 'voter groups' are modeled, such as Motorists,
Trade-Unionists, Unemployed people, Wealthy people etc. The simulation allows
people to be in several groups at once, so for example, an unemployed poor
motorist will be influenced by the opinions of all 3 groups when it comes to
election day.
 
The player influences the voters and the country by putting in place
policies. Policies are things like "Free Health Care" and can be modified using
sliders to decide how much money (and effort) is put into each policy. Different
voting groups will have very different (often conflicting) views as to which
policies are desirable.
The
game also has a number of 'events' which affect your country, such as labour
disputes, political protests, diplomatic incidents etc. And there are also
'dilemmas' which force you (as elected head of state) to make a tough decision.
Dilemmas might also include proposed laws, which interest groups are lobbying
for. Who you side with will influence who supports you at the next
election.
"I
highly recommend this title for strategy and number fans of all types, and those
who would like a great political simulation" - Walter Hare cosmosgaming.com
The
simulation behind the game also models a large number of variables which
determine the condition of your country. Your policies might be popular at
first, but they might lead to a fall in productivity, increased commuter journey
times, increased air pollution... All these variables come back to haunt you,
and to stay in power over several terms you will have to think far ahead.
 
Reviews:
Game Tunnel : By Moritz Voss Positech Games™ Democracy is a great educational game which is definitely
worth looking into. It offers a lot of nice details and very challenging game
play. Losing a game of Democracy is almost as rewarding as winning your next
election because you know for yourself that you learned a lot about the
scenario and the political processes involved. There is always the motivation to
do better next time, to shamelessly tax another minority and make more voters
happy in your next term of office. Read more of this review....
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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
