Nationstates

Control your own evil empire

Overall score:

http://www.nationstates.net

Nationstates is a political simulation in the form of a free webgame. It's also a great way to waste five minutes every day.

To start, the player is given the option of choosing a name of their country, a flag, a motto and answer a few agree/disagree questions to decide the initial status of the country. Once registration is complete, you are taken to the main screen of the game, which is a description of the country. Information is given on population, social freedoms, economy and UN classification, alongside about a page of information about the country's notable features.

Every day, you are given one (or two if the option is set) issue. This takes the form of a political disagreement, such as whether or not to make voting compulsory. You are given a choice between two to four viewpoints which the government may agree with, or simply to dismiss the issue altogether. At midnight, the new laws come into effect, changing the description on the main page. These have an exaggerated effect too. While trying to create a free country while avoiding the problems of consumerism, I quickly ended up with an 87% income tax rate, and all private enterprise being illegal.

If you want to deal in global politics, you can join the UN. This allows the user to vote on a different issue each day. The result will affect all UN members, being a double-edged sword, since you must implement any decision you disagree with. The UN also provides rankings on various useless features each day, suggesting the countries with the highest level of Law Enforcement, or the best natural environment.

Although Trade and War are not included in the game, this doesn't stop people. On the sites forum, many people choose to roleplay international negotiation, trade and conflict. Of course, being voluntary and entirely user-driven there is nothing to do about people who say "I launch 100 million nukes at you" except ignore them. If you're not interested in wasting that much time, the forum can be ignored completely.

Nationstates isn't exactly realistic, and unfortunately has a bit of a marketing veneer (the site exists mainly to promote a book written by the game's designer). While it may not ooze quality, it's still a fun game that may be worth including in your list of daily webcomics and other quick amusements.

Written by JamPaladin on January 22nd, 2004