Democracy 4

Wow is Democracy 4 a game that is not for everyone! This is a game that is very, very deep and has a steep learning curve that may put some folks off. If you like very deep strategy games where you get to lead a nation to glory as their leader, this is for you. Just know that no matter how many of those types of games you have played before this, you will still find this a challenging, but ultimately fun experience.

Oh, What A Nation!

As I write this review of Democracy 4, the game is in early access and you only have a handful of nations that you can rule over as the president or prime minister. There is the USA, UK, Germany, and France. For my first playthrough, I decided to go with the USA. The ultimate goal is to just try and last as long as you can and get reelected which is easier said than done let me tell you.

I have to say that as far as the presentation goes, this is not a very appealing game. The bright white background started to hurt my eyes after a while and there is just not much personality in terms of the visuals.

You Cannot Please Everyone

In Democracy 4, you have to make a ton of decisions. Where do you stand on food for children? What about your thoughts on military spending? Do public schools need to have their budgets slashed so that you can lower taxes? Will you have a tax on junk food? There are so many difficult decisions that you need to make and it is near impossible to get everyone on your side. You need to “know your people” and try to give them what they want. This helps your popularity soar and from here you can then start to shape the nation the way you want.

Cleaning House

You cannot just start a game and make a million changes and think people will take it. During my first playthrough as the president of the USA, I ended up getting assassinated! Each of the countries that you can play as has different “people” that have different views, needs, and so on. I actually had the easiest time when I played as France. Here I was able to get myself over to the people by taking photo ops and doing plenty of other “cool” things that made me likable to the people. This is a game that you cannot technically “win” you are just trying to survive and make it through the next election.

Wanna Hold My Hand

This game has a very, very steep learning curve. There is not a tutorial that you can play through which teaches you the basics. There is a great “tutor” menu that will tell you how to play the game, but learning as you go is pretty hard and a recipe for your first run to go badly pretty quickly.

I do wish that there was a tutorial to play through as the guides while giving you all the information you need are not very fun to checkout.

Pros:

• I think the whole concept of the game is cool
• Playing as a president or prime minister is cool
• Some of the things you can set up or do are pretty funny
• There is a real sense of accomplishment if you get reelected

Cons:

• The learning curve here is very steep
• I wish it had a tutorial to play through to teach you how to play it

A lot of strategy games aim to give you a power fantasy. They make you the leader of a country or group and provide you with tools for you to assert your dominance. There are, however, games like Democracy 4 that go beyond simple strategy and into the realm of simulation modelling. Similarly to Plague Inc., Democracy 4 uses sophisticated coding to model opinions, beliefs and behaviors in a game that is both chill yet highly data-driven.

Get your big speech ready as we check out everything you need to know about Democracy 4.

Test Your Political Beliefs

So, you think that politicians are all incompetent? If you’ve been thinking you could do a better job than your own president or prime minister, then give Democracy 4 a try. You start off as a campaigning politician looking to make a difference for their country. As you make it to your first term, you’ll be tasked with making heavy decisions that’ll impact the lives of your citizens. As is the nature of politics, every decision has repercussions for you as well. Scrapped the green plan? You’ll lose a good chunk of your liberal vote. Taxing the rich a bit more? Watch those big money approval rates drop.

Sophisticated Neural Network

Democracy 4 makes use of a special neural network to deliver a simulated political experience like no other. Based on your actions and decisions, your citizens will have their own say through approval votes, referendums, protests and, of course, the ballots. Democracy 4 also adds a ton of new features to the already sophisticated engine it runs on. Media reports will give you a general idea of how well-received your latest policies have been. The improved inflation system also aims to make rising prices feel more natural and closer to reality. You’ll also get to test out more radical ideas, such as universal basic income.

Mod ‘Till You Drop

Past games in the series have been a hotbed for modding and Democracy 4 is no different. The development team has focused on making this iteration as mod-friendly as possible. The Steam Workshop integration will also make it a lot easier to select the mods you want to play with. On top of that, because the game runs primarily on simple text files, it’s actually quite easy for anyone to mod the game the way they see fit. Think the inflation calculations are off? Want tax adjustments to have a bigger impact? All you need to do is change a few values and you’re off to the races.

Pros

• Unique gameplay style that balances between strategy and simulation modelling
• A sophisticated neural network that simulates how a citizenry would react to a changing political environment
• A place to test out your ideas and beliefs on how a country should be run

Cons

• Mostly interface and data-based so may not enthuse players adverse to numbers and charts