Info about Democracy 4:

Official game description:
Democracy 4 lets you take the role of President / Prime minister, govern the country (choosing its policies, laws and other actions), and both transform the country as you see fit, while trying to retain enough popularity to get re-elected...  
Built on a custom-built neural network designed to model the opinions, beliefs, thoughts and biases of thousands of virtual citizens, Democracy 4 is the state-of-the-art in political simulation games. A whole new vector-graphics engine gives the game a more adaptable, cleaner user interface, and the fourth in the series builds on the past while adding a host of new features such as media reports, coalition governments, emergency powers, three-party systems and a more sophisticated simulation that handles inflation, corruption and modern policy ideas such as quantitative easing, helicopter money, universal basic income and policies to cover current political topics such as police body cameras, transgender rights and tons more.  
Democracy 4 is the ultimate sandbox for testing out your political ideas. We all think our politicians are useless and that we could do a better job ourselves, but is that really true? With one eye on the budget, one-eye on the polls, and somehow finding time to watch out for terrorist attacks at the same time, you will find that staying in power while changing society for the better is a tougher job than you ever imagined.  
Would it really be a good idea to legalize all drugs? to give the police machineguns? to ban abortion? to invest heavily in green energy? would UBI really work? can you stay elected after cutting pensions in half to pay for your science budget? There is only one game that lets you find out!  
The intention in designing this game is to have no implied bias whatsoever (tricky, but we try!) so this is NOT a game that is going to lecture you about politics, or tell you that your beliefs are wrong. This is a strategy game, not a political protest :D. If you want to turn your country into ayn rand's fantasy, abolish all public spending and all taxes, you can do that. it might work, it might not! depending on how you handle it. On the other hand if you want to nationalise the railways, the energy companies, the water companies, cap CEO pay, ban second-home ownership and put universal income in place, you can do that too. All the game tries to do is model the \*likely\* effects, short and long term of any action you take.  
Because modders have so enthusiastically supported earlier games in the series, we are doing our best to make Democracy 4 as mod-friendly as possible too, and steam workshop support will make choosing and installing mods easy. Ultimately all our data is in text files that you can edit yourself, so if you think our analysis of the link between car tax and car usage is wrong (for example), its trivial to edit it, and share your changes with other players.  
Ultimately Democracy 4 is not a game about simply winning an election, but about running the country. Losing an election is just the end-game (unless you get assassinated), the real challenge to the game is whether or not you can create a country you are honestly proud of. I hope you enjoy trying :D

Release date: Jan 13, 2022

Categories: Political Simulation, Economic Simulation, Strategy, Sandbox, Mod Support, Management Simulation, Civilization Simulation, Government Simulation

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 60; verdict: Mixed Monetization Practices; summary: The game has received mixed feedback regarding its DLCs. While some users appreciate the additional content, many feel that the DLCs are overpriced and not worth the investment. The perception of value is low, with users expressing that they would not pay much for the game and its DLCs combined. There is also a sentiment that the DLCs should have been part of the base game, indicating a potential issue with Day-1 DLC practices.
- Wiki: score 10; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The game is criticized for frequent crashes and bugs, which severely impact the user experience. The gameplay is compared to a spreadsheet simulator, which may not be appealing to all players. Additionally, there are issues with the translation, including machine translation artifacts that can hinder understanding and enjoyment.
- Steam Deck: score 40; verdict: Mixed Experience; summary: The analysis of user feedback reveals a mixed experience with the game on Linux. While many users appreciate the smooth performance and stability, there are notable issues with game launch failures and some control limitations. The new vector graphics engine for the interface is seen as a positive improvement.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- High replayability and mod support (weight 0.89): The game offers high replayability with numerous options, causal chains, and mod support. Players can experiment with different policies, countries, and scenarios, and the active modding community provides additional content and customization.
- Niche appeal and specific audience (weight 0.74): The game appeals to a specific type of person, particularly those interested in politics, strategy, and simulation games. It is recommended for fans of the genre and those who enjoy detailed and complex gameplay.
- Educational and thought-provoking (weight 0.66): The game teaches players about modern political and economic processes, dependencies, and the complexities of political decision-making. It is recommended for those interested in politics and strategy, offering educational value and insight into government functioning.
- Engaging and enjoyable gameplay (weight 0.66): The game is described as fun, engaging, and enjoyable, with complex and deep systems that reward strategic decision-making. It offers a unique and intriguing concept, with a high degree of control over various policies and a satisfying sense of achievement.
- Realistic and complex simulation (weight 0.45): The game accurately simulates macroeconomic, social, and international dynamics, reflecting modern political reality. It features a dynamic and unpredictable political environment, with a variety of political paths and strategies available to players.
- Deep political simulation mechanics (weight 0.4): The game offers a highly detailed and realistic political simulation, featuring complex socio-economic models, neural networks, and a variety of political strategies. It allows players to experiment with different policies and see their effects on the country, providing a deep and engaging experience.
- Challenging and stimulating (weight 0.07): The game offers challenging and stimulating gameplay, forcing tough decisions and strategic thinking. It is easy to learn but hard to master, providing a good potential for gameplay customization and complexity.
- Positive overall assessment (weight 0.07): The game is well-received, with positive assessments of its overall interface, mechanics, and gameplay experience. It is considered a good entry into the series and a great game for strategy lovers, with a well-thought-out design and tight mechanics.
- Technical aspects and improvements (weight 0.06): The game has low PC requirements and runs smoothly on different platforms, including Linux. It is an improvement over its predecessor, Democracy 3, with added animations, interface elements, and a smoother, shinier iteration.
- Unique and different experience (weight 0.03): The game offers a unique opportunity to take on the role of a state manager, different from most other strategy games. It provides an expansive view on the game and a unique theme of democracy, making it stand out in its genre.

Common complaints:
- Lack of depth and complexity (weight 0.95): The game is criticized for lacking depth and complexity, making it feel shallow and unfulfilling. Players expect more intricate mechanics and meaningful decisions.
- Game crashes and performance issues (weight 0.9): Frequent crashes and performance issues plague the game, making it difficult to play for extended periods. Players report lag, unresponsiveness, and the need to restart the game often.
- Game is repetitive and boring (weight 0.9): Many players report that the game becomes repetitive and boring quickly. The lack of variety in gameplay mechanics and the predictable outcomes contribute to this sentiment.
- Game is too simplistic (weight 0.88): The game is criticized for being overly simplistic and not offering enough depth or complexity. Players find it easy to grasp the rules quickly, leading to a lack of challenge and engagement.
- Unrealistic economic and political modeling (weight 0.88): The game's economic and political modeling is seen as unrealistic and oversimplified. Players find that policies and their outcomes do not reflect real-world scenarios accurately.
- Bias in game mechanics (weight 0.84): Players perceive a bias in the game mechanics, particularly towards liberal socialism. This bias affects the realism and fairness of the gameplay experience.
- GDP cap limits gameplay (weight 0.8): The GDP cap is seen as an artificial limitation that restricts income growth and makes the game less enjoyable. Players find this mechanic frustrating and unrealistic.
- Lack of meaningful decisions (weight 0.73): Players feel that the decisions they make in the game lack meaningful impact and consequences. This makes the gameplay feel less fulfilling and engaging.
- Lack of emotional impact (weight 0.68): The game lacks emotional impact and meaningful achievements, making the gameplay feel empty and meaningless.
- Unbalanced gameplay (weight 0.65): Players find the gameplay unbalanced, with certain strategies or policies being too easy or too difficult to implement effectively.
- Lack of language support (weight 0.19): The game lacks support for multiple languages, making it inaccessible for non-English players. This limits the game's appeal to a broader audience.
- Poor user interface and tutorial (weight 0.17): The game's user interface is criticized for being dense and information-heavy, making it difficult to navigate. The tutorial is also seen as inadequate, leaving players struggling to understand the game mechanics.
- Lack of international relations and diplomacy (weight 0.14): The game is criticized for its lack of international relations and diplomacy mechanics. Players expect more depth in these areas to enhance the political simulation experience.
- Lack of accessibility options (weight 0.02): The game lacks accessibility options, such as color-blind support, making it difficult for some players to enjoy the game fully.

Gameplay feedback:
- Complex political and economic simulation (weight 0.95): The game offers a deep simulation of political and economic systems, including GDP, technology, education, and policy introduction. Players must balance various factors such as economy, health, education, and crime while managing a country.
- Steep learning curve (weight 0.94): The game has a complex set of mechanics that require time and patience to understand fully. It involves a lot of reading and strategic planning to grasp the rules and dynamics.
- Mod support and replayability (weight 0.91): The game supports mods that enhance gameplay and provide replayability. The modding community contributes to additional content and improvements based on feedback.
- Economic management (weight 0.9): Players must manage the economy, including GDP, tax rates, and budget deficits. Economic policies like government bonds and quantitative easing are part of the gameplay.
- Policy and voter satisfaction mechanics (weight 0.9): Players must implement policies that affect various demographics and sectors within a nation. Voter satisfaction and government stability are influenced by these decisions.
- Spreadsheet management (weight 0.88): The game involves extensive use of spreadsheets and data-driven decision-making, making it similar to spreadsheet management games.
- Country-specific challenges (weight 0.88): Different countries present unique challenges and gameplay experiences. Players can choose from a variety of countries, each with its own set of metrics and starting conditions.
- Election and campaign strategies (weight 0.86): The game includes election mechanics and campaign strategies, requiring players to balance different political and economic factors to maintain power.
- Political ideologies and their impacts (weight 0.86): Different political ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, capitalism, and conservatism have varying impacts on the game world. Players can explore these ideologies and their effects on society.
- Cabinet and government mechanics (weight 0.84): The game includes mechanics for managing cabinet members, ministers, and their ideologies, which affect political power and decision-making.
- Limited country selection in base game (weight 0.04): The base game has a limited number of countries available, which can be a challenge for players looking for more variety.
- Approval and power balancing (weight 0.02): Players must balance approval rates and power dynamics within the government. This includes managing public opinion and approval ratings.
- Sandbox gameplay without narrative (weight 0.01): The game is a sandbox experience without a driving narrative, focusing on simulation and strategy rather than story.
- Party support and political strategies (weight 0.01): Gameplay revolves around gaining and maintaining party support through various political strategies and decisions.
- No real endgame (weight 0.01): The game lacks a definitive endgame, focusing more on the ongoing management and simulation aspects.
- Achievements for unique situations (weight 0.01): The game includes achievements for unique and challenging situations, adding to the replayability and depth of the gameplay.
- Behavioral changes over time (weight 0.01): The game simulates behavioral changes over time, reflecting the dynamic nature of political and economic systems.

Performance notes:
- Game Crashing and Stability Issues (weight 0.15): The game frequently crashes under various conditions, including during gameplay, when entering save, and when the language is set to Arabic. Some users report that the game fails to launch or becomes unstable in the late game.
- Performance Degradation Over Time (weight 0.05): The game experiences significant performance issues, such as becoming laggy after 10 turns or slowing down after an hour of play. These issues persist despite various settings adjustments.
- Compatibility Issues (weight 0.04): There are compatibility problems with modern computers and mouse compatibility issues. Some users also report poor performance specifically on Windows.
- Resolution and Display Settings (weight 0.03): Users encounter difficulties with resolution settings, including issues with 4K monitors and weird resolution settings. There are also reports of false scalings and settings.
- Animation Lag (weight 0.01): There is noticeable lag during pop-up text animations, which affects the overall gaming experience.
- Miscellaneous Feedback (weight 0.01): An unusual comment suggesting the game might run on a microwave, which seems to be a joke or a non-constructive remark.

Recommendations:
- Recommended with mods and during sales (weight 0.23): Reviewers often suggest playing the game with mods, such as the Mod D4 Overhaul & Expansion, to enhance the experience. Additionally, many recommend waiting for a sale to purchase the game, indicating that it might not be worth the full price for everyone.
- Highly recommended for strategy and politics enthusiasts (weight 0.21): The game is frequently recommended for those who enjoy complex games, strategy, politics, and detailed political simulations. It is unique in its genre and appeals to a wide range of players, from kids to adults.
- Mixed recommendations based on interest (weight 0.19): While many reviewers highly recommend the game, some do not recommend it at all. The recommendations vary based on individual interests in politics, strategy, and complex gameplay.
- Desire for more features and realism (weight 0.03): Players express a desire for additional features such as a 'God mode' for implementing policies and an AI mode to watch elections unfold. There is also a call for more DLC or developments to enhance the game's realism.
- Not recommended for Democracy 3 owners (weight 0.01): Some reviewers specifically mention that the game is not recommended for those who already own Democracy 3, suggesting that it might not offer enough new content or improvements to justify a purchase.
- Start with lower difficulty (weight 0.01): Some reviewers suggest starting with a difficulty setting of 0% to better understand the game mechanics before tackling more challenging scenarios.

Other player notes:
No miscpoints

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.29): Players are frustrated by the game's complexity, lack of clear explanations, and unrealistic mechanics. Performance issues such as crashes and save file problems also contribute significantly to this frustration. Additionally, the game's perceived bias and punishing mechanics for certain political ideologies are major points of contention.
- Disappointment (weight 0.21): Players express disappointment due to the game's lack of depth, unmet expectations, and repetitive gameplay. The game's failure to accurately simulate democratic politics and its frequent crashes also contribute to this sentiment. Many players feel that the game is not worth its price and lacks significant improvements from previous versions.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.11): Players enjoy the game for its educational value, fun gameplay, and the depth of decisions. The variety of political scenarios and the ability to experiment with different political theories and mods are also highlighted as enjoyable aspects. Despite its flaws, the game provides a fun and engaging experience.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.08): Players are satisfied with the game's complexity, depth, and realistic experience. The game meets expectations for a budget simulator and is enjoyable with mods. Positive aspects such as a cool UI, improvements over previous versions, and the ability to craft a society that represents their ideals contribute to this satisfaction.
- Excitement (weight 0.04): Players are excited about the game's fun and engaging gameplay, as well as its educational value. The variety of policies, community support, and the high degree of complexity with limitless replay value are also sources of excitement. Players express enthusiasm for the improvements and new features in the game.
- Amusement (weight 0.04): Players find amusement in the game's narrative events, political parody, and unexpected reactions. Creating dystopian scenarios, portraying a tyrant, and imagining the faces of people dealing with tax changes are some of the aspects that players find amusing. The game's ability to provide humorous and entertaining situations contributes to this emotion.
- Boredom (weight 0.03): Players experience boredom due to the game's repetitive gameplay and lack of diversity. The game's mirroring of real-life politics, which can be slow and monotonous, also contributes to this feeling. Some players find the game boring after a few hours of play, indicating a lack of long-term engagement.
- Curiosity (weight 0.02): Players are curious about the game's political complexity and the effects of certain policies. The desire to understand political actions and explore different scenarios, such as starting a war on Russia, drives this curiosity. Players are interested in the game's representation of political ideologies and their consequences.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Players appreciate the game's unique theme of democracy, well-structured menus, and the mechanic of changing societal ideology. The effort put into the game by the developer is also recognized and appreciated. Players value the game's novel mechanics and the learning experience it provides.
- Approval (weight 0.01): Players approve of the game's novel mechanics, interrelated elements, and its simplification of complex political issues. The game's educational value and positive overall assessment contribute to this approval. Players give the game high ratings and recommend it as a quality political simulator.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Players feel confused due to the game's overwhelming amount of data and lack of visual feedback on public reactions. Not understanding the game's place and assumptions about diet and health also contribute to this confusion. The complexity of the game can be difficult to grasp initially, leading to confusion.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Players feel anger due to issues with refunds and feeling ripped off. The game's impact on personal life, such as strong feelings against taxes, also contributes to this anger. Technical issues and perceived unfairness can lead to frustration and anger.
- Love (weight 0.01): Players express love for the game and every game in the series. The game's enjoyable experience, depth, and unique theme contribute to this love. Players appreciate the game's mechanics and the effort put into its development.
- Interest (weight 0.01): Players are interested in the game's simulation of presidential rule and the complexity and depth of its political simulation. The game's educational value and the ability to experiment with different political scenarios drive this interest. Players find the game's mechanics and interrelated elements intriguing.
- Criticism (weight 0.01): Players criticize the game's biases, quirks, and unrealistic simulation. Significant problems and the game's failure to accurately represent political and economic systems are also points of criticism. Players express disappointment with the game's lack of depth and unmet expectations.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0): Players are enthusiastic about the game's depth, educational value, and fun gameplay. The game's variety of policies, community support, and high degree of complexity contribute to this enthusiasm. Players express excitement for the improvements and new features in the game.
- Hope (weight 0): Players hope for a continuation of the game with more political content. The desire for more complexity, improvements, and new features drives this hope. Players express a wish for the game to evolve and provide a more engaging experience.
- Desire (weight 0): Players desire more complexity in the game and wish for improvements and new content. The game's lack of depth and repetitive gameplay drive this desire. Players express a wish for the game to provide a more engaging and varied experience.
- Overwhelmed (weight 0): Players feel overwhelmed by the game's complexity and the amount of data presented. The game's in-depth mechanics and lack of clear explanations contribute to this feeling. Players may find the game's complexity difficult to manage initially.
- Regret (weight 0): Players regret not buying the game sooner due to its enjoyable experience and depth. The game's positive aspects and improvements over previous versions contribute to this regret. Players express a wish to have experienced the game earlier.}