IanJennifer Government: NationStates
May 16th 2008 14:06
Jennifer Government: NationStates is a multiplayer nation simulation browser game. It was created by Max Barry in late 2002, based loosely on his novel Jennifer Government.
Players manage simulated nations, reacting to computer-generated situations and events by choosing from a list of possible government policies, and watching how the essential statistics of the nation, its economic wealth, political freedom, and so on, are affected. Players are encouraged to define their own goals for the sort of nation they want to build, ranging from complete anarchy to Jennifer Government-style corporate capitalism to a centrist democratic republic to pure Marxist-Leninist socialism.
The game takes on additional depth as players join the United Nations, voting on proposed resolutions that every country agrees to abide by. Such discussions take place on the forums, often home to all manner of general political debate.
The relatively simplistic simulation has given rise to much more in-depth freeform role-playing, as players use their nations' statistics to imagine how their nations would fare in international trade, diplomacy, and even outright war. An upcoming upgrade, NationStates-2, may actually include in-game for setting trade agreements, diplomatic relations, and even states of war with other nations, but many players prefer the game in its relatively simple form, as a conversation piece stimulating thought about the nature of political axes and government decisions more than a full-fledged simulation.
To find out more and play NationStates, visit the official site here.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Jennifer Government: NationStates.
Players manage simulated nations, reacting to computer-generated situations and events by choosing from a list of possible government policies, and watching how the essential statistics of the nation, its economic wealth, political freedom, and so on, are affected. Players are encouraged to define their own goals for the sort of nation they want to build, ranging from complete anarchy to Jennifer Government-style corporate capitalism to a centrist democratic republic to pure Marxist-Leninist socialism.
The game takes on additional depth as players join the United Nations, voting on proposed resolutions that every country agrees to abide by. Such discussions take place on the forums, often home to all manner of general political debate.
The relatively simplistic simulation has given rise to much more in-depth freeform role-playing, as players use their nations' statistics to imagine how their nations would fare in international trade, diplomacy, and even outright war. An upcoming upgrade, NationStates-2, may actually include in-game for setting trade agreements, diplomatic relations, and even states of war with other nations, but many players prefer the game in its relatively simple form, as a conversation piece stimulating thought about the nature of political axes and government decisions more than a full-fledged simulation.
To find out more and play NationStates, visit the official site here.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Jennifer Government: NationStates.
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