Beware - this glitz-free government sim from lone coder Cliff Harris may alter the way you think about politics.
If you played this game's predecessor you'll be familiar with the system, and understand just how ingenious it is. By representing policies, crises and key national stats as small disc-shaped icons, and using mouse-over to show how these discs inter-relate, Harris manages to cram a ridiculous amount of useful information onto one screen. In the midst of the shoal of icons is a bank of thermometers displaying the moods of 21 different electoral groups. At a glance, you can see what the socialists, or the smokers, or the motorists, or the socialist-motorist-smokers (voters can be part of more than one group) think of your government, and, more importantly, why they think that way.
This week, the Humble Sale has gone back to selling video games, with the titles up for grabs coming from strategy developer Positech Games.
Gaming Irresponsibly conducts an interview with the owner of Positech Games - the creator of Gratuitous Space battles, Democracy, and Kudos. Questions cover the future direction of Positech as well as helpful information for other indie game developers.
It's quite likely that I will be doing more of these in the near future. If any of you have specific question you would like asked, or specific developers to target, please leave a comment here, on the site, or send a message via the contact form. :)
Running a country, world or universe is never as easy as most games would have many gamers believe and while there is an unusually thin line between the arcade-style fun and enjoyable simulation, when it is pulled off by a thoughtful developer – it becomes capable of standing the test of time.
