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BACKGROUND , first created as a board game in 1954]] Before the emergence of personal computers and their ability to quickly process large amounts of statistical data, games based on geopolitics and elections had already existed for years. One of the earliest such games was The Game of Politics, created by Oswald Lord in 1935Time Magazine, February 03, 1936, "Monopoly & Politics", http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,755767-1,00.html which remained in print until 1960. In 1954, the board game administration.BuzzFlash Reviews, http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/274 After enjoying years as a Play-by-mail Game , Diplomacy was one of the first games to move to take advantage of E-mail , and continues to be a popular email game as of 2007.Jim Burgess, "Play-by-Mail Diplomacy vs Play-by-Email Diplomacy", http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/postal/pbm-vs-pbem.htm COMPUTER GAMING version of Balance Of Power ]] As computers became more sophisticated, games in this genre moved beyond e-mail to more complex simulations. One of the earliest titles in this genre was Balance Of Power , designed by Chris Crawford and published in 1985. This game features conflict at the height of the Cold War , using political and policy decisions to shape outcomes rather than warfare. Chris Crawford (2003), Chris Crawford on Game Design, ISBN 0131460994Robert Mandel, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Jun., 1987), "An Evaluation of the 'Balance of Power' Simulation", pp. 333-345, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-0027(198706)31%3A2%3C333%3AAEOT%22O%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5 In Balance of Power, any armed conflict between the player and the opponent superpower results in a nuclear war, which is considered a loss condition. Other Cold War era games included created by Virgin Interactive , and Spectrum Holobyte's Crisis in the Kremlin. "Conflict" simulated a hypothetical situation in 1997 in which the player assumed the role of the Israeli Prime Minister and was obligated to employ various diplomatic and covert directives to defeat its rival nations. Surrounded by hostile nations, the player was restrained by a very limited military force and was thereby encouraged to employ peaceful means to remain in power until he acquired more advanced weapons systems and power.Zzap! Issue 70, February 1991, p.48, "Conflict: the Middle East Political Simulator", http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/conflict.htm Early political simulation games were intended more for education than entertainment. In 1987, "On the Campaign Trail" was developed as a tool at Kent State University 's political campaign management program, and engaged students in decision-making regarding the campaigns for United States Senate elections between 1970 and 1986. Nadine S. Koch, "Winning Is Not the Only Thing 'On the Campaign Trail': An Evaluation of a Micro-Computer Campaign Simulation," PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Dec., 1991), pp. 694-698, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1049-0965%28199112%2924%3A4%3C694%3AWINTOT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4&size=LARGE Subsequently, a commercial market developed for packaged games involving elections and campaigns. 's Political Machine game]] The 1993 game Power Politics focused on domestic United States political campaigns (but not the running of the country upon election). In 1998, this was adapted to the published Political Machine, in which the player steers a candidate through a 41-week election cycle for United States President, developing policies and tailoring talk show appearances and speech content. The game is heavily tied to modern polling methods, using real-time feedback for how campaign strategy impacts polling numbers. Jason Silverman (2004), "Wired News: Campaign Game Mimics Real Life", http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,64625,00.html
Some games in the genre involve enacting policies and budget decisions to sway voters. One such game is Democracy , published in 2005 by Positech Games . In Democracy , players make decisions during each turn regarding which policies to support. As turns progress, the player views how their favorability rating changes amongst certain types of voters. Candidates make promises before each election, and failure to follow-through can result in lower support during the player's reelection campaign.James Allen, Out of Eight PC Game Reviews, Democracy Review, http://jaguarusf.blogspot.com/2005/12/democracy-review.html. There are also forum-based roleplaying games of government simulation and nation simulation[http://itake.se/spclassic/index.php?showtopic=7811 . Qpawn is recognised to be the first forumed based nationsim. RELATED GAMES ]] While most games in this genre are Turn-based Strategy games, some games have incorporated the core theme of politics in other formats. A Mind Forever Voyaging , published by Infocom in 1985, was an Interactive Fiction game in which the player controlled a sentient computer capable of experimenting with potential future scenarios based on varying public policy decisions. Newsweek said of the game, "It isn't ' 1984 ,' but in some ways it is even scarier."MobyGames, A Mind Forever Voyaging, http://www.mobygames.com/game/a-mind-forever-voyaging/adblurbs Another genre that departs from the typical features of the genre but relies heavily upon the management of public budgets and policies within a non-violent framework are City-building Game s, such as the Sim City series of games published by Maxis . Sim City features a real-time environment in which the player can create zones for city development, build roads, power and water utilities, and watch as their city develops based on their decisions. The game was originally published in 1989 and as of 2003 was in its fourth major release.IGN, Sim City 4 Review, http://pc.ign.com/articles/382/382583p1.html TRAINING AND EDUCATION Beyond entertainment, these games have practical applications in training and education of government personnel. Training simulations have been created for subjects such as managing law enforcement policies (such as racial profiling), the simulation of a military officer's career, and hospital responses to emergency situations.''The Examiner,'' "Simulation games help prepare government, unite local businesses", http://www.examiner.com/a-493527~Simulation_games_help_prepare_government__unite_local_businesses.html POPULAR CULTURE The 1983 film '' WarGames '' features a fictional government simulation program called "global thermonuclear war", which was originally intended by its creators as a simulation of the events leading up to a Cold War era atomic war. Like ''Balance of Power,'' an ending that resulted in nuclear war was considered a loss. REFERENCES SEE ALSO |
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