Government simulation game: Difference between revisions

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The 1992 game ''Power Politics'' (and, before it, 1981's [[President Elect (video game)|''President Elect'']])<ref>[http://www.mobygames.com/game/president-elect "President Elect"]. Moby Games (retrieved January 25, 2009).</ref> focused on domestic United States political campaigns (but not the running of the country upon election). In 1996, this was adapted to the ''Doonesbury Election Game'', designed by Randy Chase (who also did Power Politics) and published by [[Mindscape Group|Mindscape]], in which players conducted a campaign with the assistance of a pool of advisors selected from characters in the ''[[Doonesbury]]'' comic strip.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/objects/659/659635.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040225200759/http://pc.ign.com/objects/659/659635.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 25, 2004 |title=IGN: The Doonesbury Election Game |publisher=Pc.ign.com |date=December 30, 1995 |access-date=January 17, 2011}}</ref> A successor entitled ''Power Politics III'' was released in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/power-politics-iii/ |title=Power Politics III (PC) |access-date=December 22, 2007 |publisher=[[GameSpy]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205103507/http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/power-politics-iii/ |archive-date=February 5, 2008 }}</ref> In 2004, [[Stardock]] published ''Political Machine'', in which the player steers a candidate through a 41-week election cycle for United States President, developing policies and tailoring talk show appearances and speech content. The game is heavily tied to modern polling methods, using real-time feedback for how campaign strategy impacts polling numbers.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2004/08/64625 |title=Campaign Game Mimics Real Life |magazine=Wired |access-date=December 22, 2007 |author=Jason Silverman |date=August 19, 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918042434/http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2004/08/64625 |archive-date=September 18, 2008 }}</ref> In 2006, TheorySpark released ''[[President Forever 2008 + Primaries]]'', an election simulation game that allows the player to realistically control an entire election campaign through both the Primaries and General Election. ''President Forever 2008 + Primaries'' itself a follow-up to the highly successful general election sim ''President Forever'', released in 2004

Some games in the genre involve enacting policies and budget decisions to sway voters. One such game is ''[[Democracy (game)|Democracy]]'', published in 2005 by [[Positech Games]]. In ''Democracy'', players make decisions during each turn regarding which policies to support. As turns progress, the player views how their favourability rating changes amongst certain types of voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nzgamer.com/reviews/317/democracy.html|title=Democracy (PC)|access-date=December 6, 2007|author=Jess Nickelsen|publisher=NZGamer.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805042654/http://nzgamer.com/reviews/317/democracy.html|archive-date=August 5, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Candidates make promises before each election, and failure to follow through can result in lower support during the player's re-election campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.positech.co.uk/democracy/democracy1.html|title=Positech Democracy|access-date=December 6, 2007}}</ref> Other examples are the [[Commander in Chief (video game)|''Geo-Political-Simulator'']] series, produced by Eversim, boasting an array of choices for domestic policy and decisions based around current geopolitical issues,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamingrespawn.com/features/19320/best-political-games-play-pc-2018/|title=Best Political Games To Play On PC in 2018|last=Jackson|first=Stephen|date=April 4, 2018|website=Gaming Respawn|language=en-GB|access-date=January 12, 2019}}</ref> and ''[[Tropico (video game)|Tropico]]'' series. [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1184770/The_Political_Process/ ''The Political Process,''] an independent development in early access, allows players to create a custom politician and control their career. Players can work in different positions, run for political office, write legislation, and appoint government officers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Political Process on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1184770/The_Political_Process/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=store.steampowered.com |language=en}}</ref>

There can also be found games that puts the player in the seat of a state leader, such as ''[[SuperPower]]'', and its sequel, ''[[SuperPower 2]]'' and SuperPower 3, whose goals are to produce economic stability and prosperity, but the game mainly revolves around foreign policies, with the abilities to interact with other countries in many ways. The game includes a great number of real-life treaties that influence countries.