Democracy 4

Democracy 4 is a political strategy game in which you govern a country as its President or Prime Minister. You choose policies, laws and other actions, trying to shape the country while maintaining enough popularity to be re-elected. The challenge is not just to win elections, but to run the country and decide whether you can build one you are proud of.

Governing the country

You balance the budget and public opinion while responding to events such as terrorist attacks. The game models the short- and long-term effects of your decisions, without prescribing a particular political viewpoint. You can pursue policies ranging from abolishing taxes and public spending to nationalising railways, energy and water companies, capping CEO pay, restricting second-home ownership and introducing universal income. The outcomes depend on how you govern.

The simulation uses a custom neural network to model the opinions, beliefs, thoughts and biases of thousands of virtual citizens. It accounts for issues including inflation and corruption, as well as policy ideas such as quantitative easing, helicopter money and universal basic income. Other topics include police body cameras and transgender rights.

Political systems

Democracy 4 adds media reports, coalition governments, emergency powers and three-party systems. It also has a vector-graphics interface.

Mods

The game supports mods through Steam Workshop, where you can choose and install them. Its data is stored in editable text files, so you can change the game's analysis of issues such as the relationship between car tax and car usage, then share your changes with other players.