Government simulation
Encyclopedia
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), the creation of domestic political policies, or the simulation of political campaigns. They differ from the genre of classical wargames
due to their discouragement or abstraction of military or action elements.
Games based on geopolitics and elections existed long before the emergence of personal computers and their ability to quickly process large amounts of statistical data. One of the earliest such games was The Game of Politics, created by Oswald Lord in 1935 which remained in print until 1960. In 1954, the board game Diplomacy was created, which differs from other wargames in that it features a "negotiation" phase during which players reach agreements with other players, and then execute military moves simultaneously. National politics has remained a vital area of board gaming, with products such as the 1986 board game Die Macher
featuring elections in Germany, and Wreck the Nation which satirizes the politics of the United States under the Bush
administration.
After enjoying years as a play-by-mail game
, Diplomacy was one of the first games to move to take advantage of e-mail
, and continues to be a popular email game as of 2007.
As computers became more sophisticated, games in this genre moved beyond e-mail to more complex simulations. One of the earliest titles in this genre was Balance of Power
, designed by Chris Crawford
and published in 1985. This game features conflict at the height of the Cold War
, using political and policy decisions to shape outcomes rather than warfare. In Balance of Power, any armed conflict between the player and the opponent superpower results in a nuclear war, which is considered a loss condition.
Other Cold War era games included Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator
created by Virgin Interactive
, Spectrum Holobyte's
Crisis in the Kremlin
and virtually unknown Hidden Agenda.
Conflict simulated a hypothetical situation in 1997 in which the player assumed the role of the Israeli Prime Minister and was obligated to employ various diplomatic and covert directives to defeat its rival nations. Surrounded by hostile nations, the player was restrained by a very limited military force and was thereby encouraged to employ peaceful means to remain in power until he acquired more advanced weapons systems and power.
In Crisis in the Kremlin
, the user could play as the protege of any of the following Soviet politicians: Mikhail Gorbachev
of the reformist
faction; Yegor Ligachev
, leader of the hardline faction; and Boris Yeltsin
, who was the prevalent figure of the nationalist faction. The player could use the simulation to test certain strategies to lead the failing Soviet Union
into a new era of prosperity or force its dissolution and integration into the new world order. This game introduced the concept of budget management, citizen and faction satisfaction as well as multiple economic values and political spectrum.
In Hidden Agenda the user takes the role of the president of Chimerica, a fictional post-revolutionary Central America
n country, trying to juggle international relations and the needs of the country's citizens.
Early political simulation games were intended more for education than entertainment. In 1987, On the Campaign Trail was developed as a tool at Kent State University
's political campaign management program, and engaged students in decision-making regarding the campaigns for United States Senate
elections between 1970 and 1986. Subsequently, a commercial market developed for packaged games involving elections and campaigns.
The 1992 game Power Politics (and, before it, 1981's President Elect
) 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
, in which players conducted a campaign with the assistance of a pool of advisors selected from characters in the Doonesbury
comic strip. A successor entitled Power Politics III was released in 2005. 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. 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, 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 favorability rating changes amongst certain types of voters. Candidates make promises before each election, and failure to follow through can result in lower support during the player's reelection campaign. Another is Commander in Chief, produced by Eversim, boasting an array of choices for domestic policy and decisions. Another such game is Tropico
.
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
, 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.
s, where players manage governments and nations according to a set of agreed rules, such as the MOCpages-based 21st Century World group. Forum-based simulation games have also grown more prominent; one example is SuperPower: Classic in which players register, apply for an open nation an avatar (administrator), and then send news article actions which help shape their policies, and aspects such as realism and cooperation are highly promoted.
Other web based games simulate the politics of one specific nation. Players on such games play as fictional politicians and participate in debates, media activity, and simulated elections.
Other construction and management simulation
s require government management. For example, city-building game
s such as the SimCity
series of games published by Maxis
simulates the experience of being a mayor. SimCity features a real-time environment in which the player can create zones for city development, build roads, power and water utilities, and watch as their city develops based on their decisions. The game was originally published in 1989 and as of 2003 was in its fourth major release.
Strategy games
frequently make use of government management challenges. 4X
games require the management of a government, be it tribal
or interstellar
. This includes tasks such as building infrastructure and conducting trade. Galactic Civilizations II requires players to manage their approval rating to keep their political party in power. Domestic policy is sometimes abstracted with more emphasis on international conflict. For example, the Civilization
series gives players total control over resources, and radically restructuring an empire is a matter of clicking a "revolution!" button.
Other strategy games focus on government management to varying degrees. For instance, in the Hearts of Iron
games (set in World War II
) the civilian population is only a factor with partisans
and manpower
, whereas in Victoria
a player must not only 'hobnob' and conquer, but implement the Second Industrial Revolution
while warding off (ushering in) real political revolutions such as the upheavals of 1848
and communist revolt
. Another politically connected game is Tropico
.
Government and politics have also been incorporated into adventure game
s. A Mind Forever Voyaging
, published by Infocom
in 1985, was an interactive fiction
game in which the player controlled a sentient computer capable of experimenting with potential future scenarios based on varying public policy decisions. Newsweek
said of the game, "It isn't '1984
,' but in some ways it is even scarier."
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
due to their discouragement or abstraction of military or action elements.
Background
Die Macher
Die Macher is a strategy board game designed by Karl-Heinz Schmiel of Germany. The game is based on the German electoral system and each player takes the role of one of five political parties...
featuring elections in Germany, and Wreck the Nation which satirizes the politics of the United States under the Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration.
After enjoying years as a play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
, Diplomacy was one of the first games to move to take advantage of e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, and continues to be a popular email game as of 2007.
Computer gaming
Balance of Power (computer game)
Balance of Power is a computer strategy game of geopolitics during the Cold War, written by Chris Crawford and published in 1985. The game is notable for engaging the player in nail-biting brinkmanship without using any graphics more complicated than an outline map of the world.-Gameplay:The goal...
, designed by Chris Crawford
Chris Crawford (game designer)
Christopher Crawford is a computer game designer and writer noted for creating a number of important games in the 1980s, founding The Journal of Computer Game Design, and organizing the Computer Game Developers' Conference.- Biography :...
and published in 1985. This game features conflict at the height of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, using political and policy decisions to shape outcomes rather than warfare. In Balance of Power, any armed conflict between the player and the opponent superpower results in a nuclear war, which is considered a loss condition.
Other Cold War era games included Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator
Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator
Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator, often known as ConfMEPS or simply Conflict, is a turn-based government simulation game. It was designed by David J. Eastman and published by Virgin Interactive in 1990 for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga . The game is available for free download at abandonware...
created by Virgin Interactive
Virgin Interactive
Virgin Interactive was a British video game publisher. It was formed as Virgin Games Ltd. in 1981. The company became much larger after purchasing the budget label, Mastertronic in 1987. It was part of the Virgin Group...
, Spectrum Holobyte's
Spectrum HoloByte
Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher originally based in Alameda, California.The company was founded in 1983 and was most famous for its simulation games, notably the Falcon series of flight simulators and Vette!, a driving simulator from 1989...
Crisis in the Kremlin
Crisis in the Kremlin
Crisis in the Kremlin is a 1991 video game in which the player acts as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 2017. The player assumes the role of the reformist Mikhail Gorbachev, the nationalist Boris Yeltsin, or the hardline Yegor Ligachev...
and virtually unknown Hidden Agenda.
Conflict simulated a hypothetical situation in 1997 in which the player assumed the role of the Israeli Prime Minister and was obligated to employ various diplomatic and covert directives to defeat its rival nations. Surrounded by hostile nations, the player was restrained by a very limited military force and was thereby encouraged to employ peaceful means to remain in power until he acquired more advanced weapons systems and power.
In Crisis in the Kremlin
Crisis in the Kremlin
Crisis in the Kremlin is a 1991 video game in which the player acts as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 2017. The player assumes the role of the reformist Mikhail Gorbachev, the nationalist Boris Yeltsin, or the hardline Yegor Ligachev...
, the user could play as the protege of any of the following Soviet politicians: Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
of the reformist
Reform
Reform means to put or change into an improved form or condition; to amend or improve by change of color or removal of faults or abuses, beneficial change, more specifically, reversion to a pure original state, to repair, restore or to correct....
faction; Yegor Ligachev
Yegor Ligachev
Yegor Kuzmich Ligachev is a Russian politician who was a high-ranking official in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . Originally a protege of Mikhail Gorbachev, Ligachev became a challenger to his leadership.-Early life:...
, leader of the hardline faction; and Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, who was the prevalent figure of the nationalist faction. The player could use the simulation to test certain strategies to lead the failing Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
into a new era of prosperity or force its dissolution and integration into the new world order. This game introduced the concept of budget management, citizen and faction satisfaction as well as multiple economic values and political spectrum.
In Hidden Agenda the user takes the role of the president of Chimerica, a fictional post-revolutionary Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
n country, trying to juggle international relations and the needs of the country's citizens.
Early political simulation games were intended more for education than entertainment. In 1987, On the Campaign Trail was developed as a tool at Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
's political campaign management program, and engaged students in decision-making regarding the campaigns for United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
elections between 1970 and 1986. Subsequently, a commercial market developed for packaged games involving elections and campaigns.
President Elect (computer game)
President Elect is a turn-based, political simulation game, first released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1981. It would appear to be the first commercially published computer game of its political sub-genre.-Description:...
) 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
Mindscape Group
Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...
, in which players conducted a campaign with the assistance of a pool of advisors selected from characters in the Doonesbury
Doonesbury
Doonesbury is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau, that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, Michael Doonesbury, who has progressed from a college...
comic strip. A successor entitled Power Politics III was released in 2005. In 2004, Stardock
Stardock
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...
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. In 2006
2006 in video gaming
-Events:* January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite. The new model is lighter, smaller, has configurable brightness and features an improved user interface.* January 26, 2006 -- Konami Corp...
, TheorySpark released President Forever 2008 + Primaries
President Forever 2008 + Primaries
President Forever 2008 + Primaries is a political simulation game that incorporates realism mixed with fiction. It simulates United States presidential elections and primary elections in 1960, 1980, 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2008. President Forever 2008 was developed and released by TheorySpark, a...
, 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, 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 favorability rating changes amongst certain types of voters. Candidates make promises before each election, and failure to follow through can result in lower support during the player's reelection campaign. Another is Commander in Chief, produced by Eversim, boasting an array of choices for domestic policy and decisions. Another such game is Tropico
Tropico
Tropico is a series of construction and management simulation computer games developed by PopTop Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2001...
.
There can also be found games that puts the player in the seat of a state leader, such as SuperPower
SuperPower
SuperPower is a political simulation computer game designed by GolemLabs and published by DreamCatcher Interactive. SuperPower debuted on March 28, 2002 for the PC.-Gameplay:...
, and its sequel, SuperPower 2
SuperPower 2
SuperPower 2 is a Real-time strategy wargame developed by Canadian based GolemLabs and published by DreamCatcher Games in 2004, following SuperPower. It was released between October 11 and November 19, 2004 in North America and Europe....
, 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.
Online games
Web-based games such as NationStates and CyberNations allow players to manage the day-to-day decisions of individual governments, and compete against rival nations. Less formally structured games are also played out in internet forumInternet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, where players manage governments and nations according to a set of agreed rules, such as the MOCpages-based 21st Century World group. Forum-based simulation games have also grown more prominent; one example is SuperPower: Classic in which players register, apply for an open nation an avatar (administrator), and then send news article actions which help shape their policies, and aspects such as realism and cooperation are highly promoted.
Other web based games simulate the politics of one specific nation. Players on such games play as fictional politicians and participate in debates, media activity, and simulated elections.
Related games
Construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation is a type of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy video games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding...
s require government management. For example, city-building game
City-building game
City-building games are a genre of strategy computer game where players act as the overall planner and leader of a city, looking down on it from above, and being responsible for its growth and management...
s such as the SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
series of games published by Maxis
Maxis
Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...
simulates the experience of being a mayor. SimCity features a real-time environment in which the player can create zones for city development, build roads, power and water utilities, and watch as their city develops based on their decisions. The game was originally published in 1989 and as of 2003 was in its fourth major release.
Strategy games
Strategy video game
Strategy video games is a video game genre that emphasizes skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. They emphasize strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges. Many games also offer economic challenges and exploration...
frequently make use of government management challenges. 4X
4X
4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate." The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World...
games require the management of a government, be it tribal
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
or interstellar
Galactic empire
Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fiction and science fantasy, particularly in space opera. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background, or written about the growth or decline of such an empire...
. This includes tasks such as building infrastructure and conducting trade. Galactic Civilizations II requires players to manage their approval rating to keep their political party in power. Domestic policy is sometimes abstracted with more emphasis on international conflict. For example, the Civilization
Civilization (computer game)
Sid Meier's Civilization is a turn-based strategy "4X"-type strategy video game created by Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley for MicroProse in 1991. The game's objective is to "Build an empire to stand the test of time": it begins in 4000 BC and the players attempt to expand and develop their empires...
series gives players total control over resources, and radically restructuring an empire is a matter of clicking a "revolution!" button.
Other strategy games focus on government management to varying degrees. For instance, in the Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron
Hearts of Iron is a grand strategy computer game developed by Paradox Interactive and published by Strategy First, set in the years 1936-1948. In the game you can control any one nation as World War II unfolds. It was released for Windows-compatible PCs in 2002. A Macintosh version was also...
games (set in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) the civilian population is only a factor with partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
and manpower
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
, whereas in Victoria
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun
Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun is a real-time strategy game by Paradox Entertainment . It covers its namesake the Victorian period, specifically 1836-1920 and runs on a modified version of the Europa Universalis engine. The lead game programmer was Johan Andersson...
a player must not only 'hobnob' and conquer, but implement the Second Industrial Revolution
Second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of the larger Industrial Revolution corresponding to the latter half of the 19th century until World War I...
while warding off (ushering in) real political revolutions such as the upheavals of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
and communist revolt
Communist revolution
A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, typically with socialism as an intermediate stage...
. Another politically connected game is Tropico
Tropico
Tropico is a series of construction and management simulation computer games developed by PopTop Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2001...
.
Government and politics have also been incorporated into adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s. A Mind Forever Voyaging
A Mind Forever Voyaging
A Mind Forever Voyaging is an interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in 1985...
, published by Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
in 1985, was an interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
game in which the player controlled a sentient computer capable of experimenting with potential future scenarios based on varying public policy decisions. Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
said of the game, "It isn't '1984
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
,' but in some ways it is even scarier."
Training and education
Beyond entertainment, these games have practical applications in training and education of government personnel. Training simulations have been created for subjects such as managing law enforcement policies (such as racial profiling), the simulation of a military officer's career, and hospital responses to emergency situations.List of government simulation games
- The American Republic
- Ars Regendi
- 4X4X4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate." The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World...
- Nobunaga's AmbitionNobunaga's Ambitionis a series of turn-based grand strategy role-playing simulation video games, first released in 1983 by the Japanese video game developer Koei.Games in the franchise have been released on a variety of gaming platforms, including the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive,...
- Balance of Power
- Romance of the Three KingdomsRomance of the Three Kingdoms (video game series), or Sangokushi in Japanese, is a series of turn-based tactical role-playing simulation grand strategy wargames produced by Koei. Originating from Japan in 1985, eleven installments of the game have been published in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and North America to date.-Overview:The games are...
- Bandit Kings of Ancient ChinaBandit Kings of Ancient ChinaBandit Kings of Ancient China, also known as Suikoden-Tenmei no Chikai in Japan, is a turn-based strategy role-playing simulation video game developed and published by Koei, and released in 1989 for MS-DOS, Amiga and the Macintosh and in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System...
- Destiny of an EmperorDestiny of an Emperoris a strategy role-playing game by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released in Japan in , with an English language localization released for the North American market in ....
- Conflict: Middle East Political SimulatorConflict: Middle East Political SimulatorConflict: Middle East Political Simulator, often known as ConfMEPS or simply Conflict, is a turn-based government simulation game. It was designed by David J. Eastman and published by Virgin Interactive in 1990 for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga . The game is available for free download at abandonware...
- Crisis in the KremlinCrisis in the KremlinCrisis in the Kremlin is a 1991 video game in which the player acts as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 2017. The player assumes the role of the reformist Mikhail Gorbachev, the nationalist Boris Yeltsin, or the hardline Yegor Ligachev...
- Cyber NationsCyber NationsCyber Nations is a massive multiplayer online geo-political simulator. Players assume the role of a national leader of a fictional nation they create and then run....
- CyberJudasCyberJudasCyberJudas is a MS-DOS computer game and the sequel to Shadow President containing many of the same cyberpunk, dark science fiction of the original game along with some espionage.-General summary:...
- Democracy
- eRepublikERepublikeRepublik is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game, web browser game developed by eRepublik Labs which launched on October 21, 2008 and is accessible via the Internet...
- Hidden Agenda
- Galactic Civilizations II
- Commander in Chief (alternate title: Geo-Political Simulator)
- Hearts of IronHearts of IronHearts of Iron is a grand strategy computer game developed by Paradox Interactive and published by Strategy First, set in the years 1936-1948. In the game you can control any one nation as World War II unfolds. It was released for Windows-compatible PCs in 2002. A Macintosh version was also...
- Hearts of Iron IIHearts of Iron IIHearts of Iron II is a grand strategy computer war game for the PC based upon its predecessor, Hearts of Iron. It takes place in the period from 1 January 1936 through 30 December 1947 , and allows the player to assume control of any one of over 175 nations of the time and guide its development...
- Hearts of Iron IIIHearts of Iron IIIHearts of Iron III is a grand strategy wargame developed and published by Paradox Interactive that is the sequel to the previous Hearts of Iron games. It was announced on August 20, 2008 and was released on August 7, 2009....
- NationStatesJennifer Government: NationStatesJennifer Government: NationStates is a multiplayer nation simulation browser game. It was created by Max Barry and was publicly released on 13 November 2002, based loosely on his novel Jennifer Government. The game has hosted over 3 million nations...
- Power PoliticsPower Politics (video game)Power Politics isa Government Simulation Game published by Mindscape who obtained it from Will Vinton’s Cineplay Interactive. Vinton was famous for Claymation featuring the California Raisins....
- Political Tycoon
- President ElectPresident Elect (computer game)President Elect is a turn-based, political simulation game, first released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1981. It would appear to be the first commercially published computer game of its political sub-genre.-Description:...
- President Forever 2008 + PrimariesPresident Forever 2008 + PrimariesPresident Forever 2008 + Primaries is a political simulation game that incorporates realism mixed with fiction. It simulates United States presidential elections and primary elections in 1960, 1980, 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2008. President Forever 2008 was developed and released by TheorySpark, a...
- Republic: The RevolutionRepublic: The RevolutionRepublic: The Revolution is a computer game produced by Elixir Studios, founded by Demis Hassabis, a former programmer of Lionhead Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. It is a depiction of grassroots political action, where one attempts to put their preferred government in power. It is set...
- Shadow PresidentShadow PresidentShadow President is a geopolitical simulation computer game released in 1993 for the PC by the now-defunct software company DC True containing elements of cyberpunk and dark science-fiction.-Summary:...
- Supreme Ruler 2010Supreme Ruler 2010Supreme Ruler 2010 is a computer wargame in which a player who controls all aspects of a region's government attempts to unite a world of fragmented states of the world in the year 2010....
- Supreme Ruler 2020Supreme Ruler 2020Supreme Ruler 2020 is a grand strategy computer wargame developed by BattleGoat Studios and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was released on June 17, 2008 and is a sequel to Supreme Ruler 2010. In the game, the player controls all aspects of a region's government attempts to unite a world...
- Supreme Ruler Cold WarSupreme Ruler Cold WarSupreme Ruler Cold War was developed by BattleGoat Studios and was officially announced August 19, 2010 by Paradox Interactive at the 2010 Gamescom video gaming convention held in Cologne, Germany and released on July 19, 2011. It is set during the Cold War Era from the end of World War II to the...
- Victoria
- Victoria II
- TropicoTropicoTropico is a series of construction and management simulation computer games developed by PopTop Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2001...
- Tropico 2
- Tropico 3Tropico 3Tropico 3 is a video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media. Like the previous games in the series, Tropico 3 is a construction and management simulation game with heavy emphasis on city building, and as a sequel to Tropico, the game attempts to return to the roots of the...
- Tropico 4Tropico 4Tropico 4 is a video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media. It is a construction and management simulation video game, which focuses around a city building simulation...
- CivilizationCivilization (series)Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy, 4X video games produced by Sid Meier. Basic gameplay functions are similar throughout the series, namely, buiding a civilization on a macro-scale from prehistory up to the near future...
- Civilization IICivilization IISid Meier's Civilization II is a turn-based strategy computer game designed by Brian Reynolds, Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeff Briggs. Although it is a sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization, neither Sid Meier nor Bruce Shelley was involved in its development.Civilization II was first released in...
- Civilization IIICivilization IIISid Meier's Civilization III, commonly shortened to Civ III or Civ 3, is the third installment of the Sid Meier's Civilization turn-based strategy computer game series. It was preceded by Civilization II and followed by Civilization IV. The game offers very sophisticated gameplay in terms of both...
- Civilization IVCivilization IVSid Meier's Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy, 4X computer game released in 2005 and developed by lead designer Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and Meier's studio Firaxis Games. It is the fourth installment of the Civilization series...
- Civilization VCivilization VSid Meier's Civilization V is a turn-based strategy, 4X computer game developed by Firaxis, released on Microsoft Windows in September 2010 and on Mac OS X on November 23, 2010...
- Europa Universalis IIIEuropa Universalis IIIEuropa Universalis III is a grand strategy computer game by Paradox Interactive. The main game was released for Windows on January 2007, and was later ported to Mac OS X by Virtual Programming on 2 November 2007....
- Age of Empires I
- Age of Empires II
- Age of Empires IIIAge of Empires IIIAge of Empires III is a real-time strategy game developed by Microsoft Corporation's Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed by Destineer's MacSoft Games and published by Destineer and MacSoft Games...
- SuperPower 2SuperPower 2SuperPower 2 is a Real-time strategy wargame developed by Canadian based GolemLabs and published by DreamCatcher Games in 2004, following SuperPower. It was released between October 11 and November 19, 2004 in North America and Europe....
- SuperPowerSuperPowerSuperPower is a political simulation computer game designed by GolemLabs and published by DreamCatcher Interactive. SuperPower debuted on March 28, 2002 for the PC.-Gameplay:...
- British Politics Sim
External links
- Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds (National Defense University, Washington, DC)