Let me start out by saying that I have a degree focusing on Political Science and have worked in the sector....


The Socioeconomic policies do not reflect what happens in the real world, more what someone idealizes how they should work. The Human Element is not well represented, such as in situations where a positive outcome is seen, but the electorate is unhappy due to outlying political/social/etc beliefs (e.g. the goal is accomplished, but not HOW the populace wanted it accomplished, etc).

The Political system is rather simplified and this makes a Democratic Socialist approach far too easy and ignores key psychological responses that have been observed in the real world when certain situations arise.

After playing for a few hours, using demographic knowledge of game developers, and knowing the political beliefs behind certain policies, I easily beat the game with a Social Democracy....which appears to be the ultimate point of the developers. Comparatively, I attempted a few other forms of government approaches that have been historically stable in the real world, but those forms were not nearly as friendly in the game world.

As this is intended to be a political sim attempting to replicate the real world, I cannot recommend this.

However, if this were a model that honestly stated its intent to show HOW a Democratic Socialist contruct can best be made and why it is best for them, in their view, as compared to other options...Then I would say that it accomplished its intent.

Overall 5/10

Pros:
- The idea behind it is good, you get to play a government and using different policies you try to get reelected while improving a country.
- Some concepts behind it are solid, both in terms of ecomics and social policies.
- It is easy to understand what each polciy does.

Cons:
- It is probably too easy to beat, just a bunch of algorithms to beat.
- There's only one way to "win" and that is pretty much going full "social democrat", nothing else seem to work.
- Very few scenarios.
- The consequences of some actions are totally off, like raising VAT to 70% and seeing your opinion rating go up.

I truly like the idea behind it, and I hope the author gets backing to develop it into 1) a real game, made by pros and 2) a more realistic simulation, but as it is now I cannot reccomend it.

Buyer beware - This game has limited functionality on Windows 7 & 8. You most likely will experience a display issue cutting off half the icons needed. It seems to be an issue related to widescreen displays. Changing the compatibility mode does not work for most either. Unless the developer manages to patch this and solve the UI issue, do not buy this game.

I managed to create a socialist paradise by cranking up my GDP to the point where the bare minimum of taxes off of corporations paid for public education, transportation, healthcare, retirement pensions, the military, and basically everything else.

I created a socalist utopia through the magic of the free market and laissez-faire capitalism.

Better as a lesson of how interconnected things are, and how quickly things can go stupid with just a few bad mistakes, than as a simulation of real politics. Still can prove quite fun til you figure out how to tweak the folks to get them to do what you want. At some point, it loses its charm, but you may have a bit more respect for your politicians by then, if you're not wondering why they haven't implemented all the policies you did to have a socialist utopia. 3/5

Just buy Dem 3. Better in all ways.

As president, I promised to raise national lifespan by 10% and improve air quality by 20%. I increase air quality by 50% and inprove lifespan by 6%, and then I lose the next elelction. "Voters are angry you didn't follow through with promises." Rage quit.

Anywho, it's a great game.

My biggest complaint is that there is no way to win the different scenarios if you choose any other political path than "progressive liberalism."

A good concept, but poorly executed. If you want a political simulator, this is not the one to play. As for which one is... that I am less certain about. Either way, don't bother with this one. I wish I didn't. :(

Democracy 2 is a really lackluster game.

It's rare that I play a game and feel like I've wasted my money, but D2 had me feeling that within half an hour.

For me, the dealbreaker is the fact that when you aren't voted back in, the game ends. What's the point in that? I was actually looking forward to being opposition leader and laying the smackdown on the current government while I set my party on a road to recovery.

It just made it a really one-dimensional and short-lived game for me.