Gather round my friends, for I have fixed South Africa. That’s right, with the correct combination of high police enforcement, adult education subsidies, childcare and huge education boost, South Africa became Utopia. Well, once I survived a few assassination attempts from religious groups and raging feminists. Now I just need to go fix the rest of Africa.

Democracy 3 is a pure turn-based strategy game. No pretty cut scenes, no predetermined storyline. Players load up the game as a country of their choice where there are a range of problems that need solving. With policies and careful management, you get to steer your country in the right direction.

Democracy 3 stole far too much of my time, so when I heard about a new African edition of the game, I was excited to get my hands on it. I was worried it might just be a reskinning or the original game, though, making the game look African but without changing any of the policies or situations in the various countries. I was so very wrong.

Democracy 3 africa 1

At first glance, Democracy 3 Africa looks much like the original game – there are issues in your country and you need to use policies to overcome them. However, much has changed.

First of all, the types of problems in the various countries are pretty different from those faced in Canada or the UK. As the new leader, you’ll need to solve typically Western issues like obesity and pollution, while also combatting poor infrastructure, border conflicts and rampant female genital mutilation. That last one definitely drove home the point that we were in Africa.

However, you can also benefit from some perks of the continent. Tourism is high thanks to the wildlife, even during instability, and my rich mineral resources helped keep my economy afloat in difficult times. So yes, my South Africa was fairly realistic – my ministers even had typically South African names (and can be fired, hired and reshuffled at whim) and a bunch of policies were already in place that were locally applicable like gated communities and issues with HIV/AIDS.

Democracy 3 africa minister

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t get the whole picture right. When elected into office, I only had 3% popularity, meaning that my reelection probability was low unless I fixed the country. Also, no matter what I did, the gender inequality in the country sky rocketed early on simply because there were so many conservatives in the country. Plus, the economic situation wasn’t quite right, with labor laws favoring employers and minimal power of the unions. So, while certain aspects felt very true to the local situation, other elements pulled me out of that immersion. That said, I had no issues with immersion when playing with different African countries because I had no idea which policies maybe weren’t 100% accurate.

In the original Democracy 3, I usually dressed all countries the same way – improve education and health care to boost the economy in the long run, add a telecommuting initiative to lower car usage and help the environment, and then tweak a bunch of other policies as needed. This time, that simply didn’t work – the first few times (okay, ten times) I played the African version, I ended up assassinated in the first ten turns. No matter what I did, I seemed to anger the women. And the religious groups. And the patriots. Their extremist groups would grow like weeds and I’d end up dying in some horrible way.

Democracy 3 africa hiv

Africa definitely requires some different policies, and that was great to see in Democracy 3. After trying to channel my inner Idi Amin and failing, I found that the best route to success was a high police presence and community policing, along with some social policies to combat poverty and inequality. Somehow, I managed to survive the early assassination plots and create a utopia in the end.

That’s where Democracy 3 Africa shows some weakness as a game. The starting point is incredibly difficult and I was wondering if there was any way to play and not get assassinated. But once I overcame that hurdle, my country became easy to run, eradicating all problems and just waiting for me to click next turn until I won. It seems the end game is lacking the same strategic issues that were found in the early turns.

 

Last Updated: April 13, 2016

Democracy 3: Africa
Democracy 3: Africa is great fun. For fans of the original game, it offers some new challenges and achievements, while still being interesting for newcomers. It may not the most evenly paced strategy game, it will still steal hours of your time without you realizing it.
7.8
Democracy 3: Africa was reviewed on PC
/ 100

50 Comments

  1. Lord Chaos

    April 13, 2016 at 15:34

    Difficult starting point? Sounds like Africa to me.

    Reply

  2. RinceThis

    April 13, 2016 at 15:34

    You should have just bought a fire pool! You would be winning!

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      April 13, 2016 at 15:39

      You can get in the volcano pool!

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        April 13, 2016 at 15:46

        Fine! It’s good for your skin anyway!

        Reply

        • Lord Chaos

          April 13, 2016 at 15:47

          Agreed, bad joke to tell a ginger.

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            April 13, 2016 at 15:51

            Exactly! 0_O

  3. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    April 13, 2016 at 15:40

    • Lord Chaos

      April 13, 2016 at 15:41

      It’s called Tyranny by stupidity.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        April 13, 2016 at 15:42

        Game is aptly titled, seeing how most games are works of fiction

        Reply

        • Lord Chaos

          April 13, 2016 at 15:44

          Wait! Skyrim isn’t historically accurate??? 🙁

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief in New York

            April 13, 2016 at 15:46

            MY LIFE IS A LIE!!!

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 15:48

            Finally, now we need to work on your other issues 😛

          • Admiral Chief in New York

            April 13, 2016 at 15:58

            My hatred for misspelling? Yeah, good luck with that

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 16:00

            I’d structure it more like: Obsessive Correcting Disease.

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 16:00

            tihs is the truht

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 16:01

            I’m keeping my handle for a bit longer, because it pleases me. ;P

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 16:02

            Bwahahaha

          • Admiral Chief in New York

            April 14, 2016 at 07:17

            I cannot lower my standards. Society will fall

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 16:00

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 15:48

            Don’t be silly, of course that happened

          • Commander Bob

            April 13, 2016 at 15:50

            That’s right. When you look up at the night sky, those aren’t stars. They’re adventurers still hurtling upwards after being launched by a giant.

          • Lord Chaos

            April 13, 2016 at 15:51

            This needs more upvotes.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 13, 2016 at 15:51

            lol. Don’t remind me. Although I could see my house…

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 15:51

            The greatest feature (not bug) in a game ever

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 13, 2016 at 15:48

            Khajiit are just really committed Furries.

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 16:07

            Of course not! Everyone knows that dragons haven’t existed for at least, uhm, fifty years!

          • Lord Chaos

            April 13, 2016 at 16:10

            So that’s how they got rockets into space.

    • RinceThis

      April 13, 2016 at 15:46

      lol

      Reply

  4. Admiral Chief in New York

    April 13, 2016 at 15:46

    Democracy + Africa = WHAT IS THIS, APRIL 1st???

    Reply

  5. Commander Bob

    April 13, 2016 at 15:46

    “When elected into office, I only had 3% popularity, meaning that my reelection probability was low unless I fixed the country.” Sounds about right. Now all you need to do it appoint ministers who are in your pocket and secure your eternal presidency. 2 terms? Let’s go for 3 even if the Constitution says otherwise – we can change it. We can do more…damage.

    Reply

  6. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    April 13, 2016 at 15:49

    I bet they’re planning Gupta DLC

    Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      April 13, 2016 at 15:50

      I will find you and stone your car. 😛

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        April 13, 2016 at 15:51

        XD

        Reply

    • BakedBagel

      April 13, 2016 at 18:23

      With the endgame being another DLC.
      Democracy: Dubai

      Reply

  7. Captain JJ the Isolatid

    April 13, 2016 at 15:56

    Democracy seems like the wrong name if you’ve got Africa written next to it.

    Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      April 13, 2016 at 15:56

      You’re late to the joke. 😛

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the Isolatid

        April 13, 2016 at 15:56

        I only read the other comments now. Damn.
        I was late to the article!

        Reply

        • Lord Chaos

          April 13, 2016 at 15:58

          You’re late to everything, thankfully you’re not female.

          Reply

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 15:59

            The one time when losing is winning. 😀
            If only this applied to physical sports in school I would’ve been first ALL THE TIME.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 13, 2016 at 16:00

            There are non-physical sports? 😉

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 16:01

            Since it’s a sin to call eSports a sport, probably not then. :/

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 16:03

            Swimming?

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            April 13, 2016 at 16:03

            Sorry, I thought you meant non contact sports

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 16:04

            You had me for a second there with swimming. So it wasn’t just you who thought so.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 13, 2016 at 16:06

            😀

          • Captain JJ the Isolatid

            April 13, 2016 at 16:07

            #forevernoncontact
            no wait, that’s different

          • Lord Chaos

            April 13, 2016 at 16:00

            Also not always a good thing to be the first one….

  8. BakedBagel

    April 13, 2016 at 18:15

    “Well, once I survived a few assassination attempts from religious groups and raging feminists.”

    That realism.

    Holy shit ultimate real life immersion

    Reply

  9. Johann

    April 13, 2016 at 20:53

    Game can’t be that hard, just buy your voters some nice food parcels every election and steal as much money and blame it on Colonialism

    Reply

  10. Strawman Jim

    April 14, 2016 at 08:11

    I will buy this, and pretend that I’m Jacob Zuma. heh heh heh

    Reply

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