Democracy 3

The first glance at Democracy 3 can cause an immediate "it's too complicated" reaction, but the well-designed interface enables a fairly quick understanding of how to manage the policies required to create your own personal political utopia. For those that are into this kind of thing, Democracy 3 is a great way to test pet political theories in a (mostly) consequence-free way.

Political simulations are not everybody's cup of tea, but this one goes down smoothly. It'll show you how hard it is to please citizens so they don't run you out of office. [Issue#236]

Democracy 3 is a pure management game that needs almost no graphic to entertain the player. But under the tons of statistics the gameplay is too simple and the Steam Workshop integration is the only real improvement over previous chapters.

Democracy 3 is a title with a very interesting level of complexity but many important aspects are left unsaid. Though it has evolved since its second installment it forgot to include some elements that would have made the game a really complete political simulator. Its excessive standardization relegates the game with a choice for casual entertaining and it will be difficult to explode this Positech Game's proposal for long. Once corrected its technical mistakes and when the mods start to rise, we may be able to take this game to a higher, different level.

Fascinating, fast, and friendly but far too forgiving. Wait for the patches and iron man/lady mods.

The idea is great, the realization not so. Democracy 3 fails to portray the nuanced inner workings of a democratic government, instead presenting the player with a sort of strategical puzzle that can and must be solved in a clear way.

If you’re already a fan of the series, it’s impossible to recommend a bare-bones expansion like this at its current price point. If you’re not… well, I have a hard time imagining that you’d enjoy the third installment at all.

Great fun, I thought the game was cool BEFORE I realised there was a political compass built into it. Now I'm having a pretty amusing battle with some steam friends seeing who can win an election as far to the left or right as possible. So far my skills as a communist outweigh my skills as a fascist. I think once modders have really got going with adding extra policies it will be better still. It's not a cheap game, but given the hours I've spent playing it, I've easily got my moneys worth from it already :D

Democracy 3 offers an engaging, if simplified, introduction to political systems, exploring how politicians might respond to various issues in a controlled, hypothetical setting. While it provides some insight into the mechanics of governance, it falls short of realism—primarily because it assumes all voters act in their own best interest, which, as we know, isn’t always the case.

Good strategy game with interesting mecanics. Also, the game hud it's pretty cool.

It's entertaining.. for a bit... but scores low on replayability to be honest. Get it for a couple of dollars, if anything, but with pretty much zero international relations, quite a few unrealistic policies and simple gameplay, it's barely better than a web app to score your political standing.

I believe there is an inherent grandeur in politics, weither your are engaged in promoting ideas and values, or a simple citizen making sure the government makes the right choice on important issues, with you vote, your voice or your feet. Democracy 3 turns that picture into dull accounting, making the reelection your sole goal, and insidiously validating the fact that it's good to compromise with you opponents to gain a share of the votes, and take advantage of people's values and commitment to fool them. This game does not hide the fact being reelected will be hard and you will suffer. In fact, your eyes bleed at the very moment you see the general view and your policies. No scaffolding or ramp-up here. You don't start locally, lobby for one issue, push a particular law and move your way up to the top House of Cards style ; without the sex and murders. No, you are already in the President's shoes, knee-deep in a maze of interconnected and complex "stuff". I understand this is a clear choice from the developers, and even if I formely enjoyed the idea of playing Democracy 3, it was the fastest disappointment I ever had in games. Hopefully, real democracy can be experienced in the real world, so you can pass this game without regrets.