Democracy 3

 PC
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Gaming Nexus
    Feb 25, 2014
    88
    The first glance at Democracy 3 can cause an immediate "it's too complicated" reaction, but the well-designed interface enables a fairly quick understanding of how to manage the policies required to create your own personal political utopia. For those that are into this kind of thing, Democracy 3 is a great way to test pet political theories in a (mostly) consequence-free way.
  2. CD-Action
    Dec 13, 2013
    80
    In terms of gameplay mechanics it’s a very simple game but it does much more for understanding democracy than any citizenship lesson. [13/2013, p.72]
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 25, 2013
    80
    Political simulations are not everybody's cup of tea, but this one goes down smoothly. It'll show you how hard it is to please citizens so they don't run you out of office. [Issue#236]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Digitally Downloaded
    Mar 17, 2014
    70
    At its core, Democracy 3 is a mass of pretty spreadsheets that visualise an intimidating amount of data systems that are all linked to one another.
  6. Multiplayer.it
    Nov 26, 2013
    70
    Democracy 3 is a pure management game that needs almost no graphic to entertain the player. But under the tons of statistics the gameplay is too simple and the Steam Workshop integration is the only real improvement over previous chapters.
  7. PCGamesN
    Nov 6, 2013
    70
    Democracy 3 demands a particular mindset to appreciate, where one’s eye is not constantly fixed on winning elections, but it’s a grand political adventure for those willing to experience a story told by numbers and polls. There’s also a surprising, understated beauty about how everything is seamlessly tied together, with every decision echoing throughout the elegant spiderweb.
  8. GameWatcher
    Oct 29, 2013
    70
    This is an excellent combination of concept and design, but needed more, more, more. The core game itself utilises a fine engine with which to play with, but the actual core of the experience feels somewhat lacking in substance. A real shame that detracts from an outstanding piece of game design.
  9. Meristation
    Oct 21, 2013
    70
    Democracy 3 is a title with a very interesting level of complexity but many important aspects are left unsaid. Though it has evolved since its second installment it forgot to include some elements that would have made the game a really complete political simulator. Its excessive standardization relegates the game with a choice for casual entertaining and it will be difficult to explode this Positech Game's proposal for long. Once corrected its technical mistakes and when the mods start to rise, we may be able to take this game to a higher, different level.
  10. 4Players.de
    Jan 24, 2014
    69
    It bites off a little more than it can chew. Starting out with the premise of being a full political simulator in the end it is little more than an turn-based interaction with a population. But on this level you’ll get the high complexity that you’ll miss in macro management.
  11. PC Gamer
    Nov 12, 2013
    68
    Fascinating, fast, and friendly but far too forgiving. Wait for the patches and iron man/lady mods.
  12. Hooked Gamers
    Dec 10, 2013
    65
    Democracy 3 is a game for the politically-minded. It favors substance over flair.
  13. IGN Italia
    Mar 9, 2014
    61
    The idea is great, the realization not so. Democracy 3 fails to portray the nuanced inner workings of a democratic government, instead presenting the player with a sort of strategical puzzle that can and must be solved in a clear way.
  14. Games.cz
    Nov 7, 2013
    60
    Democracy 3 is a solid simulation game letting you to steer a state with a help of laws and orders in a very enjoyable way. Unfortunately, it doesn't change its solving pattern, which brings an early stereotype. Democracy 3 is excellent for a while, but as a full-value game it probably won't prevail.
  15. Hardcore Gamer
    Nov 4, 2013
    50
    If you’re already a fan of the series, it’s impossible to recommend a bare-bones expansion like this at its current price point. If you’re not… well, I have a hard time imagining that you’d enjoy the third installment at all.

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 172 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 88 out of 172
  2. Mixed: 56 out of 172
  3. Negative: 28 out of 172
  1. themipper
    Oct 16, 2013
    5
    I think this game is unfinished and needs some polishing.

    The UI and general presentation is neat but plagued with some bugs. I had to kill    I think this game is unfinished and needs some polishing.

    The UI and general presentation is neat but plagued with some bugs. I had to kill the process several times due to hidden and unclickable buttons. Sometimes it breaks after saving.

    The game hides behind an initially perceived complexity with lots of statistics, neat focus groups, flow diagrams and pie charts. The perceived complexity is quickly replaced with the feeling of a pretty simple simulation.

    For me the gameplay consists of getting rid of the red bubbles by making obvious policy choices. Increase taxes and make up for it in give away policies. After that the country is stable and debt free. The only thing that follows is pressing next and wonder about the volatile behavior of the global market.

    The good news is that the game is fully moddable and the simulation parameters can be changed very easily.
    Which means the developer and the community can fix this and make it more challenging.

    They have to add more events, decisions, policies and the ability that policies can interact with each other by other means than the interest group. For example policies that exclude others or create an explosive situation.

    At the moment this game has no replay value. Every round seems to be the same.

    I really like the presentation and I will revisit this after some time has passed.    … Full Review »
  2. Tubey
    Oct 18, 2013
    3
    It pains me to say this, but whilst Democracy 3 clearly expands on its' predecessor in graphically, with a clearer overall UI the biggestIt pains me to say this, but whilst Democracy 3 clearly expands on its' predecessor in graphically, with a clearer overall UI the biggest edition, the problem is that there's very little else to distinguish it between Democracy 2.

    The exact same issues that afflicted the previous game are present here certain actions seem heavily weighted towards negative reactions no matter what you do, meaning that despite the myriad of apparent options available to you, there is in reality only one or two actual ways to play the game. Want to be a fascist dictator for a laugh? Tough, as it's next to impossible to do before you're assassinated or whatever. You have to be a "good guy", either stereotypically Democrat or Republican. Anyone hoping for an in-depth political simulation of Tropico here are going to be badly misled.

    The exact same bugs exist too, which is really confusing as you'd think they would have been eradicated. Random crashes plague this title more than any other I can think of, creating a sense of panic every time you press to continue your game as there's every possibility you're about to lose the last 10 minutes of considered gameplay.

    But the biggest disappointment with this title is just how dull it is. There's no diversity, no unexpected events, no real emergency scenarios, no tests of logic and reason. Nothing. You'll play this game an hour and you will have seen everything there is to see. And given that I'm the target audience for this title someone who craves something with more depth than found in the millions of FPS clones that has plagued the last decade it is massively disappointing.

    This is a high-school educational game that has got too big for its boots and is attempting to fleece cash from actual gamers by pretending to be a serious title. Avoid.    … Full Review »
  3. Toffenuff
    Oct 26, 2013
    4
    Not recommended for it's current price of $25. And I studied my fair share of political science and consider myself to be above average inNot recommended for it's current price of $25. And I studied my fair share of political science and consider myself to be above average in terms of political knowledge and interest.

    I found this to be too easy (in terms of being re-elected, which is really the only major goal you're trying to achieve each term). Also not as complex as it first looked (another reviewer mentioned this already) since it's actually rather basic once you get down to it.

    Big thing is that there isn't much to do while there are a myriad of policy choices made available, most are extremely negative and will often result in serious consequences so essentially there is a "right" way to play this game. There aren't enough things to do (in my honest opinion) to justify the price point. Sure there are nice graphs and the UI is actually decent given the amount of information thrown at you, but beyond that and implementing/editing/removing a policy every now and again there isn't anything else. Plus while all the displays and the information given are nice, they're fairly obvious and anyone who has gone to college/is going to college will find nothing surprising here in terms of educational value as one reviewer has said it is really a high school level game.

    After every quarter or "turn" there is maybe some random event that occurs or some decision that you have to make, but there really isn't much variety after a little while and the random events are often just that completely random and illogical given the situations (at least in my two playthroughs). Plus once you decide you don't really get a notification or anything about what happened, which would have been nice. I got really bored after maybe 45 minutes (after starting and not finishing two different playthroughs) never playing this again (unless they seriously add a lot more content and make it less of a snoozefest) and I will reiterate: not recommended.    … Full Review »
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