Democracy 3 Critic Reviews

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.

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.

In terms of gameplay mechanics it’s a very simple game but it does much more for understanding democracy than any citizenship lesson.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fascinating, fast, and friendly but far too forgiving. Wait for the patches and iron man/lady mods.

Democracy 3 is a game for the politically-minded. It favors substance over flair.

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.

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.

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.