Review of New Simulation Game

WARNING: This is humor and political satire! Read with extreme caution!

When the luster of Monday night’s Antique Road Show wore off, my interests turned to the simulation game—Mansfieldco 9— a construction and management and political simulation game with heavy emphasis on town building.

Set in the 21st century, it is not unlike Tropico 3 (a Haemimont Games published by Kalypso Media).

Placed in the shoes of El Presidente—a dictator— the Player governs over the Island Banana Republic of Mansfieldco. The game begins by the Player having seized power over the island country.

As El Presidente, the Player’s main duty is to manage the development of the Island by ordering the construction of new buildings, schools, and other municipal structures without popular consensus or referendum.

The Player can issue several different “edicts” to influence the island including the limitation of free speech to five minutes and engaging loyal island henchmen in the favorite tactic of innuendo, gossip and social pillory to pressure Island inhabitants and dissenters into blind submission.

There are several different political factions in the Banana Republic of Mansfieldco—Democrats, Republicans, bloggers and the just plain crazy hallucinating faction of political dissenter. Each faction has varying demands, but it is the construction of a new downtown for the benefit of a select few which dominates the game’s play.

As El Presidente, the Player can issue edicts to influence life on the island through numerous committees on the quality of life on the Island. All serve to distract and waste Island inhabitants’ time, and results in mindless cheerleading and loss of game points.

Due to the game’s cold war setting, El Presidente has to manage relations with Island superpowers—the STATE and YUKON—both provide the Player with yearly financial aid for the Island. A higher relation with one superpower ensures more aid and the possibility of an alliance. A low relation means less aid and the danger of a superpower coup.

The best part of the game features a timeline that allows El Presidente to create fictitious historical events, or real ones, give a political speech, or participate in various random ribbon cutting ceremonies of no particular significance.

The best part is the cool Latin sound track.

The game has a variety of humor elements including a running satirical commentary by an informed Patch blogger and subtle touches like secret liaisons between politicos and cabaret girls.

The loading and screen savers have quotes from various dictators, leaders and politicians including John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Dwight Eisenhower, Karl Marx, Thomas Jefferson, and Alfred E. Neuman.

A new version of the game “Total Power” is due out in early April and builds on this wacky new campaign with a wider selection of Megalomania Edicts like ‘free housing’ and ‘delete faction’ and ‘street naming’. There also is a new range of structures including Golden Statue in the likeness of El Presidente, a toxic plume garbage dump, and Hazmat over a watershed. A new loyalist faction is also introduced composed of El Presidente’s most loyal letter writing supporters. New to the game is the resistance movement comprised of informed citizens.

It is fun and endlessly thought provoking.

One word of caution, it is addictive and difficult to stop once play begins.