Choice Party wrote:Particracy's definitely my favourite online game, there's nothing quite as good as this. However I was wondering how many other games there are like this out there which I've not heard of before; I've been playing government simulation games for quite a few years now (Nationstates and so forth), but it took me a long time to find out about Particracy. I was just wondering whether anyone wanted to share some other games like this.
One game I was thinking would be cool if it existed would be where instead of playing as a Party, you played as a MP/Senator/etc. as part of a part full of other players, I was wondering if anything like this existed.
We possibly like the same thing about Particracy; instead of having absolute power within your nation like you do in NationStates, you have others who act against you within your own nation. You have to face political opposition, and you have to convince others to support your agenda instead of just unanimously making decisions.
There is a Model House of Commons on Reddit, I think it's r/mhoc - but maybe you're looking for an actual game.
I like Victoria 2 because the nation you control has a legislature, so you can't just pass any policy you want. Of course, the party lines are way too rigid, and you don't get as much power in an Absolute Monarchy or Presidential Dictatorship as you should (instead of being able to change anything, it means you're allowed to change nothing). There's a game I'm waiting for, to be released, called
Urban Empire; it's like a city-building game but with politics.
I wish Tropico had a mod or something that allowed you to have a National Assembly, Congress, or some other form of legislature that was elected by the people based on their factions. That way, my decisions would have to pass through another body for approval. Usually, the only obstacle to passing an edict or building something is money or some prerequisite which only costs money. I like that there is some politics; I just wish there was more. I also like playing around in the World Congress in Civ, paying off nations to vote for you, and that thrill you get when what you want isn't a guaranteed outcome.
Another thing you can look at is forming games/activities/exercises in person with other political junkies. I've turned single-player games into multiplayer activities. I've done it with "Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator" with 3-5 other players at a time. It was fun each time, and we did it over 10 times. I also turned Democracy 3 into a multiplayer activity in my debate society. We had almost 20 persons participate in this, and they want to do it again in September when school resumes.
"Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator" had every player being a party, and the votes were determined by random number generators in Excel (to divide the 120 seats in the Knesset among us). We'd start off, and parties would align themselves in coalitions. The Excel spreadsheet did all the work. We just had to click a button to dissolve the Knesset (and call new elections), and type a coalition abbreviation for each party. From the coalition stuff, the spreadsheet identified who is the Prime Minister, on its own. The Prime Minister would basically play the game, but everything he did needed approval from the Knesset. The Knesset would be dissolved if the Prime Minister chose to dissolve it, or if a majority of Members (as in 61/120 seats, not a majority of players - just like an early election in Particracy) voted to dissolve it. We saw fragile coalitions, just like Israel IRL. No 2 players were identical in policy. When a Prime Minister couldn't get his way, he would just dissolve the Knesset.
Democracy 3 had every player being a Member of Parliament. Since I was the only one familiar with the actual game itself, I was the Speaker. There were 2 persons who volunteered to be party leaders, so the rest of the players just picked which leader they preferred. The party with more members was the government (and the leader therefore the Prime Minister), and the other party was the Opposition (and the leader therefore the Opposition leader). It was a debating exercise, and the effects of policies that were implemented were measured by the game. Throughout the exercise, players could change teams (so the government and opposition did get switched around). It was fun to watch.
Another thing you could do is join Model UN. I've had a lot of fun in that, forming blocs and whipping other participants into the bloc line. It's a very parliamentary setting, and you're 1 person trying to ensure that your agenda is carried out by the end of the day, i.e. that whichever resolution passes at the end of the day is in line with what you want.