Democracy 3

About

Democracy is a government simulation game. The player plays as if they are the president or prime minister of a democratic government. The player must introduce and alter policies in seven areas - tax, economy, welfare, foreign policy, transport, law and order and public services. Each policy has an effect on the happiness of various voter groups, as well as affecting factors such as crime and air…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 9,337 reviews

gameplay132 positive mentions

stability58 negative mentions

Democracy 3 offers a unique and engaging political simulation experience, allowing players to experiment with various policies and see their effects on society.
The game features a complex web of interconnected issues, making it a thought-provoking challenge for players interested in politics and governance.
The modding community enhances the game significantly, providing additional content and customization options that increase replayability.

The game suffers from a significant liberal bias, making it difficult to succeed with conservative or libertarian policies, often resulting in assassination or loss of elections.
Many players experience frequent crashes and bugs, particularly on Windows 10, which detracts from the overall enjoyment and functionality of the game.
The interface can be overwhelming and unintuitive, leading to confusion about how to effectively manage policies and understand their impacts.

gameplay
682 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
70%
10%
The gameplay of this political simulation game is characterized by complex mechanics that allow players to manage various aspects of a country through policy decisions, but many find it repetitive and lacking depth after a few hours. While the game offers an educational experience and a unique concept of simulating democracy, it often favors progressive policies, leading to frustration for players with conservative or libertarian views. Overall, the gameplay is engaging for those interested in politics, but it can become predictable and shallow once the mechanics are mastered.
- “The game's mechanics are complex, giving players a wide range of tools and options for managing their country and making decisions that will affect the economy, society, and politics of their nation.”
- “The gameplay is all about the policies you enact, and the funding you allocate to them - each one impacting on your country, on voters, and on other policies - which creates emergent gameplay as you try to solve crises and improve your country, and all the while unexpected results are cropping up.”
- “The gameplay itself is a unique concept, and simulates a functioning democracy and the influence that your decisions as an elected leader have on the daily outcomes of this simulated country.”
- “Now it is an unplayable snoozefest of cringe, facepalming, lack of challenge, and dull gameplay.”
- “Not much to come back to after you've learned how the gameplay operates, and you've lost about 5 times or so.”
- “The game mechanics are very flawed, and would not recommend the game for this reason.”
graphics
308 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
78%
8%
The graphics in Democracy 3 are generally described as basic and functional, resembling a spreadsheet or infographic style that prioritizes clarity over visual appeal. While some players appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness of the interface, many find the visuals dull and outdated, lacking the engaging animations or artistic flair seen in other games. Overall, the graphics serve their purpose in conveying information but may not satisfy those seeking a more visually stimulating experience.
- “The graphics are basic but functional, providing players with the information they need in an easy-to-read format.”
- “The art style here feels very official and federal, and doesn't feel particularly out of place no matter what country you are at the helm of.”
- “The interface is well designed and the game mechanics are quite intuitive; the graphics are not flashy, but neat and well designed.”
- “The graphics are extremely simple, since the interaction is all done through charts and graphs, and a few dialogue choices, but honestly for this type of game that's all that's necessary.”
- “Don't mistake what I'm driving at - the lack of graphics is fine, but if you're going to produce a largely text-based game in 2013, you need to have tremendous depth that makes up for the stark white background and simplistic graphics.”
- “The gameplay becomes very stale after ~1.5-2 terms, the graphics are somewhat lackluster, and there is significant lag when returning to the main issues screen of the game, every single time.”
replayability
232 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
59%
16%
The game's replayability is highly variable among players, with some praising its extensive options and mod support that enhance replay value, while others criticize it for becoming repetitive and predictable after a few playthroughs. Many reviews highlight that while there are multiple political paths and challenges to explore, the core gameplay can lead to a lack of long-term engagement, especially without mods. Overall, opinions range from "near endless replayability" to "close to zero replayability," indicating a mixed reception on this aspect.
- “I have to say by far that this game has top notch replayability and that even the mods help make this game form into whatever the user would like to do.”
- “Fantastic replayability as you can take on the challenge to get the achievements which requires different approaches to appeasing the required groups, and on various difficulty settings on different countries there is definitely plenty of hours you'll get out of this game.”
- “The amount of replayability is unlimited, decision vs consequences are extremely valid especially because it can be seen in long term and the difficulty of the game is so tasty you wanna play again and again.”
- “Game is solid, and enjoyable, but has absolutely no replayability to it.”
- “Unfortunately, the replay value is not immensely high, as you may tire of tinkering with the same policies over and over again.”
- “The predictability of the game leads to lack of replayability, and overall, it's not worth the hefty price tag.”
humor
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often described as absurd and satirical, poking fun at political scenarios and the unpredictability of governance. Players find amusement in the exaggerated outcomes of their decisions, such as creating authoritarian states or witnessing bizarre societal changes, though some note that the humor can wear thin over time. Overall, while the game offers a comedic take on politics, opinions vary on its depth and replayability, with many suggesting that mods enhance the humor further.
- “Mods make it really funny because the same system allows you to introduce something like judges from Judge Dredd executing criminals in the streets with no one saying a word.”
- “It does get boring after a while, but being able to turn a country around or absolutely destroy it is really funny.”
- “Democracy 3 is funny when goofing around, trying to see what happens when you try to realize your dream of instituting a moderate socialist utopia or just fixing that damn budget deficit.”
story
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
91%
5%
The game's story is largely absent, with players describing it as a "make your own story" experience rather than a narrative-driven one. While it presents a backdrop of political intrigue and assassination plots, the gameplay often leads to repetitive scenarios with minimal control over outcomes. Overall, it lacks a cohesive storyline, making it more of a strategy simulation than a traditional story-based game.
- “The story goes like this: Earth is captured by a technocapital singularity as renaissance rationalization and oceanic navigation lock into commoditization take-off.”
- “This is one of the best examples of the 'make your own story' kind of game because you never have to take one of two or three different options.”
- “This game offers the story of your term in office, whether that be in the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Canada, or any other nation across the globe.”
- “No real story and minimal control.”
- “As a game, I'll say it fails; it's not very entertaining, doesn't tell a story, doesn't have production values.”
- “That's all the gameplay there is, so it's definitely not a story-driven game.”
stability
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
94%
The game is widely criticized for its numerous bugs and stability issues, with many players reporting frequent crashes, glitches, and performance problems. Despite its enjoyable gameplay and interesting concept, the persistent technical problems significantly detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration among users. While some players find ways to enjoy the game, the consensus is that it remains too unstable to recommend without reservations.
- “I have it on my MSI notebook and it runs great.”
- “Not buggy”
- “The game is incredibly buggy and there seems to be little will to fix issues with the game.”
- “While it can be fun, the game is still very buggy and crashes often.”
- “Costs $28 (CAD), which is very expensive for a buggy and broken game.”
music
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
52%
13%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it overly repetitive and lacking variety, often leading to frustration. While some appreciate the soothing and atmospheric qualities of the soundtrack, others note that it consists of a single loop that can quickly become tiresome. Overall, while the music complements the game's ambiance, it is frequently criticized for its limited range and potential to detract from the gaming experience.
- “The music is good, nothing special, but it is relaxing and it suits the atmosphere of the situation that you are in.”
- “Navigation is a pleasure and the nice ambient music provides a relaxed atmosphere for you to play in.”
- “While the layout looks very simple, I feel that this is actually to the game's benefit, and the use of music as well as the knock-on effects of choices made really can lead to a tense experience, which is more than I could have expected.”
- “The music is painfully repetitive.”
- “The music consists of a single song that gets old faster than listening to 'Achy Breaky Heart' on repeat.”
- “The music is one looped soundtrack and is bound to be turned off by the user.”
grinding
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, often requiring significant time investment to progress. Many reviews highlight the repetitive nature of tasks and the steep learning curve, leading to a sense of monotony that detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the underlying mechanics, the grind often overshadows the game's potential, making it feel simplistic and burdensome.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Your hands are pretty much tied to a specific set of actions, and it's exceptionally tedious to get past the learning curve.”
- “I've only put about 5 hours into the game now and I'm a bit torn as I find half of it quite tedious, a quarter of it a little frustrating, an eighth of it rather pointless, and another eighth of it pushing me on to make things happen.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report smooth performance and quick loading times, others experience frequent crashes and poor optimization, even on new hardware. Overall, the game shows signs of needing significant improvements in stability and performance.
- “The game runs smoothly and has a wide variety of ways that you can change your country.”
- “It runs smoothly and boots quickly, with simple yet elegant graphics making this complex game easy to understand after a few short rounds.”
- “Abolished nearly all crime, lowered pollution, optimized health and education, but got assassinated by capitalists.”
- “In terms of performance, the game keeps crashing on a brand new computer, showing signs of horrible optimization.”
- “The game is poorly optimized.”
- “Aside from some weird parameters (good diplomatic relations decrease trade, why?), the optimization is a little bad, and crashes happen quite frequently.”
monetization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has received criticism for misleading advertisements, particularly regarding the extremism DLC, which players feel do not accurately represent the game's features. Users express frustration over the lack of meaningful engagement in political elements, such as giving speeches or funding ads, which they expected based on promotional materials. Overall, the monetization strategy appears to be viewed as deceptive and overly focused on superficial content.
- “Wow, was I wrong and the advertisement is completely misleading.”
- “Don't be deceived by its flashy advertisement because its content is so dense that I fear it may one day burst into a super-massive black hole and consume everything.”
- “There are elections here, but you do not give speeches or fund ads.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a relaxing ambiance, enhanced by pleasant ambient music that complements the political themes and navigation experience. Once players acclimate to the controls, they find the intertwining of statistics and political elements creates a rich and engaging environment. Overall, the atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's immersive quality.
- “Navigation is a pleasure and the nice ambient music provides a relaxed atmosphere for you to play in.”
- “Once you get used to the controls and understand how the political atmosphere is intertwined, the game becomes a masterpiece of statistics and political science.”
- “The music is good, nothing special, but it is relaxing and it suits the atmosphere of the situation that you are in.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find "Modded Democracy 3" emotionally engaging, as it immerses them in the complexities and challenges of ruling a nation, highlighting the short-sightedness often associated with political decision-making. The game elicits strong feelings about political ideologies, particularly critiquing the emotional responses of certain groups.
- “Modded Democracy 3 is the first game that actually made me feel like I’m ruling a nation – and experience all the short-sightedness of doing so.”