Lawgivers 12+

There are few things I love more than politics and games and political games

Having played various political and government games this one definitely tops my list for three reason:

1. It presents a real opposition - many political games often have you as the sole political force and should you loose power you loose the game. This causes political games to become simplistic, create an unrealistic “us and them” mentality and doesn’t accurately represent how politics works.

I’ve had games of Laws of Civilisation where I’ve started from nothing, risen to lead my country and then collapse only to pick up the pieces and rule again. Actions have consequences but you learn from them and move on - it’s great!

2. It has an in-depth ideological system - most political games have very simplistic ideologies; capitalism v communism, democracy v dictatorships, monarchism v republicanism etc; again the us and them mentality. In Laws of Civilisation they go beyond this having 6 main ideological schools and then each party is either in favour, against or neutral to the thought. This creates a far more rich game where you are encouraged to build alliances on areas you agree and compromise where you don’t.

3. It’s simple - politics can be overly complex at times and scare a lot of people away in real life and in games. By keeping it simple with small numbers, easy concepts and a straight forward system it prevents the player from getting lost in the easily complex world of politics and government.

Despite all these praises, the game has a long way to go and develop if it wants to become the best political game ever. Some thought for improvement;

1. More electoral systems - I would love to see the game introduce electorates (single-member and multi-member) as well as more ways to vote like first past the post (UK, Canada, US), single transferable vote (Australia) and multi-member proportional (New Zealand, Germany) etc. this would create a more electorally complex game and would allow for a more developed election campaign and policy development.

2. More political positions - the game currently as an MP and the President as the only two political offices, it would be really great to see positions like Speaker, President, Prime Minister, Secretary, Minister, Treasurer etc allowing for a more in depth game where you have to consider coalitions, cabinet appointments and internal party support and stability. You could also look at introducing a Bicameral system and making a distinction between Parliamentary and Presidential Systems of Government.

3. The Economy - employment, homelessness, recessions, welfare and trade form a big part in government policy and the electoral successes of parties. I would love to see a more in-depth economy system to help shape policy and make elections and government more interesting.

These are my own personal recommendations and I don’t imagine that all of them if any will be adopted - but this is still a great game regardless and I look forward to see where the developers go.

Laws of Civilisation is a rather fun game, but certain aspects, such as the parties/ideologies, could be better. Hopefully the updates will work on this.