Hi, I’m conducting research in to Authenticity in gaming and politics and have been advised that Democracy 1 & 2 are the closest to simulating real democratic power amongst any games in the field [which tend to be more God games than actual power sims]. What I’m keen to know is what it is that first attracted you to the game and what keeps you playing it?
I came to Democracy because I love solving public policy problems, and I wanted to try a bunch of things that no corrupt idiot politician will ever do in real life. The challenge in the game is to get good things done in spite of crashing political capital.
The game does seem to model the political axiom that no good deed goes unpunished. Good policy is usually politically expensive both in its immediate cost and in the withdrawal of corrupt ministerial support. However, a robust economy can be good enough for 90% re-election even when political capital is choked down to one per minister.
What keeps me playing is the modding. Besides “fixing” a few things, I can create new policies and even whole new simulations. My latest is a constellation of nuclear power / nuclear waste elements.
I am interested in politics, economics and enjoy playing strategy games when I can find the time. I actually saw mention of Democracy 2 in a review of another game by someone on Metacritic, who said that it was their favourite game of this genre. As it was relatively inexpensive and recommended, I thought it would be worth a punt, and in general I would say it was.