China: Mao's legacy

About

China: Mao's legacy is a single player role playing game with a historical theme. It was developed by Nostalgames and was released on May 24, 2019. It received positive reviews from players.

Year 1976, the stormy Cultural revolution has died down, hard times of hongweibing and public critics are coming to an end. Old and sick Mao Zedong will soon leave China to his comrades from CPC. The Cold War is coming into a new phase...

Skip User Reviews

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 279 reviews

gameplay5 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Extremely deep and historically detailed political simulation focused on China's post-Mao era, offering a compelling and unique gameplay experience with many alternate history paths and strategic choices.
Highly replayable due to numerous political, economic, and diplomatic options, with active developer support and frequent updates improving balance and features.
Appealing to history buffs and grand strategy enthusiasts interested in Cold War geopolitics and Chinese domestic politics; the game captures the era's complexity and challenges well.

Steep learning curve and very poor tutorial support; many players struggle to understand game mechanics due to lack of explanations and opaque UI elements.
User interface is clunky, unintuitive, and prone to bugs; lacks tooltips, proper labeling, undo features, and polish, hindering accessibility for new players.
Occasional historical inaccuracies, awkward English translations, missing content, and sometimes unbalanced gameplay reduce immersion and may frustrate players seeking a polished experience.

gameplay
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
79%
8%
The gameplay is complex, deep, and offers a compelling political simulation with strong replay value, especially for those interested in Cold War history. However, it suffers from a steep learning curve due to opaque mechanics, limited tutorials, and occasionally poor translations, requiring patience, trial and error, and community resources to fully grasp. The interface is improved and more user-friendly compared to previous titles, but could still benefit from clearer explanations and polish.
- “This game is much less cryptic; you see the effects of increasing or decreasing budget (unlike in Crisis in the Kremlin where you just had to guess), the UI is much better, and I love the new real-time mechanics instead of just pressing on a book to progress the game.”
- “Its UI is more intuitive and its mechanics are more polished and constantly being updated (seriously, there've been like 4 updates in the first month since release). Everything just works how it should. You are given enough freedom to do what you want so you can bend history but not so much that you can break it.”
- “The game takes into account complex variables and induces gameplay which is almost perfectly implemented.”
- “If you are going to play this game, expect confusion to be a pretty regular feeling, as a lot of game mechanics will be explained through a mix of trial and error, looking for Steam community threads that don't actually answer your question, and intuition-based guesses.”
- “The game mechanics are rather opaque - there is a compelling political simulation in there but the developers need to provide the player with a lot more information about what certain decisions, buttons, and ramifications actually mean.”
- “Though, I suppose I should offer a warning to players unfamiliar with Kremlingames: the tutorial only explains so much, the tooltips are not in-depth like Paradox games, and a lot of the game mechanics are hidden in a 'black-box' style of gameplay where you have to puzzle out and discuss with others what exactly does what and why a game-over came so suddenly when I played one time vs. smooth sailing to a victory the next.”
music
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The game's soundtrack is highly praised for its excellent and authentic music, featuring popular melodies from Mao's era that enhance the nostalgic atmosphere. However, the interface for music control is minimal and lacks clear guidance or tutorials on how to use features like song shuffle.
- “I will give positive points to the game soundtrack which is excellent.”
- “This game also has amazing soundtracks consisting of popular melodies from Mao's time.”
- “The original soundtracks are also thrilling when played in the correct scenarios.”
- “There is no music or speaker icon.”
- “No mention of 'audio' or 'music'.”
- “4) They have all these Chinese propaganda music but they didn't include 'Red Sun in the Sky.'”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers exceptionally high replayability due to its numerous alternate histories and unique late Cold War setting, despite some repetitive mechanics. Improvements like a more dynamic AI, especially in diplomacy, could further enhance this aspect. Overall, it provides substantial replay value, even if visuals may be off-putting to some.
- “For example, the amount of alternate histories that exist within the game is very good in terms of replayability.”
- “Pretty short and with a lot of replay value.”
- “Whilst the graphics are an immediate turn-off for most, the time period and gameplay is unique in offering tons of replayability if you're into the late cold war era.”
- “A more dynamic AI could enhance replayability, particularly in diplomatic relations.”
- “1.3 billion/10 for replayability value.”
- “The game is quite difficult - the party or popular opinion can throw you out of office quickly if you displease them - but has strong replay value despite the repetitive event mechanic.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
The graphics are generally considered unremarkable and not visually impressive, but the clean and informative interface effectively supports the complex gameplay. While the visuals may deter some, the unique time period and engaging gameplay offer strong replay value.
- “While not a graphical powerhouse, the interface is clean, informative, and well-suited to its complex gameplay.”
- “Whilst the graphics are an immediate turn-off for most, the time period and gameplay is unique in offering tons of replayability if you're into the late Cold War era.”
- “Whilst the graphics are an immediate turn-off for most, the time period and gameplay is unique in offering tons of replayability if you're into the late cold war era.”
- “Pretty decent - graphics are meh, but that's fine because the gameplay elements are pretty cool.”
- “You aren't going to impress anyone with the 'graphics', either.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits some stability issues, including a buggy UI and confusing tutorial, along with a few glitches. However, these glitches can occasionally be exploited to ease gameplay and exploration.
- “Buggy UI and too confusing of a tutorial.”
- “There are also a few glitches I've found, which have actually been kind of helpful as exploiting them gave me a safety net to explore how things work without dying immediately.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story is criticized for focusing heavily on technical management aspects rather than delivering an engaging, artistic narrative. Additionally, the game's storytelling approach limits player agency, making it difficult to assume a leading role in the plot.
- “Imagine Suzerain but you get overthrown for not making a spreadsheet imitation of Deng's budget, rather than experiencing an artistic story.”
- “The storytelling-type game configuration prevents players from playing a leading role in the game.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect of the game to be overly tedious, detracting from their enjoyment despite appreciating the historical events presented.
- “Way too tedious.”
- “I do enjoy the historical events but the way they are presented is tedious.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a poignant emotional experience by immersing players in the tragic events of 1976, encouraging reflection on personal and national struggles. It effectively evokes a deep sense of loss and hope, as players face critical decisions that shape the country's future.
- “While they have recalled their heartbreaking lives and fading faith in 1976—a year of grief, news, and natural disaster—at dinner tables occasionally, this game reveals the scheme behind that pivotal year and pushes the player into the position to decide the nation's future: shall we reform?”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization in this game is notably influenced by the developer's style, with poorly translated English that some players find charming and adds to their overall enjoyment.