What you can do

Every sovereign state on the map, as well as territories with their own administration, such as Greenland, Puerto Rico or Hong Kong. The smallest micro-states, such as Monaco or the Vatican, appear on the map but cannot be played.

Every campaign begins on 1 January 2026, with the world as it stood that day: economies, public debt, populations and the war already under way in Ukraine. There are no historical start dates or scripted scenarios. What happens next comes from the decisions of countries, parties and people.

No. The leaders of every nation are fictional characters. Parties are generated and anonymised, so they represent no real organisation. When a leader dies or is replaced, the game generates the people who follow.

Search for a country or click it on the globe, or take one of the suggested starts, from countries with room to breathe to countries where everything is urgent. Then choose to lead the government or one of the country’s other parties. One game rule is also set there: whether AI nuclear powers facing an existential threat may strike first. It is forbidden by default, and you can change it in Settings for the current campaign. Starting outside government ↗

There is no victory screen and no end date: you set your own goals. Losing an election or a confidence vote does not end the campaign. It ends only if your nation is annihilated: entirely annexed, or reduced to a tenth of its starting population. What happens after a defeat ↗

Yes. Every government you do not control sets its budget, passes laws, reforms its institutions, imposes sanctions, proposes alliances and can go to war, against its neighbours or against you. Tensions can escalate from warnings, missile tests and naval exercises to open conflict. Elections follow each country’s own calendar.

Yes, for how the world looks rather than how it plays. Mods can rename leaders and parties, give leaders new portraits, replace a country’s flag or add new flags to choose from. The rules, the economy and the way other countries behave stay the same.

Build your own in the Mod studio from the main menu, or subscribe to other players’ mods on the Steam Workshop. Both appear in Manage mods and load when the game starts; turn one off and the original names and flags come back. Larger conversions, such as alternative historical starts, are unlikely: everything in the simulation depends on everything else. Without any mod, you can still rename your nation and draw or import its flag from Overview → Nation. Make a mod ↗

You keep leading your party. If the result removes you from government, choose to continue in opposition, take the lead of the party now in power, or play as someone else in the same world. Losing a parliamentary majority does not necessarily remove you from the presidency: the country’s institutions determine which powers you keep.

No. You can start in government or choose a party outside it. In opposition, you manage your party while the government acts on its own. Raise funds, recruit activists and campaign for the next election. Preparing an election campaign ↗

Yes. From the pause menu, choose another country and political party, including a party in government or in opposition. The campaign continues from the same world and date.

Yes. Press Space to pause or resume. The number-row keys 1, 2 and 3 select the three simulation speeds. Opening the pause menu with Escape also stops the clock.

Yes. Open Save from the pause menu and create a named save. You can keep separate saves or choose an existing one to overwrite, with confirmation. Use Load to return to the saved campaign.

Yes. In Settings, choose an autosave every 1, 3, 6 or 12 in-game months, or turn it off. You can keep 3, 5 or 10 autosaves. Manual saves remain available separately.

Yes. Choose your language from the main menu or Settings. You can also change it during a campaign.

Yes. Settings let you enlarge the interface and choose colour-vision modes for red–green or blue–yellow distinctions, or a monochrome mode.

Yes. Choose a graphics preset, texture quality, render resolution and frame-rate limit, switch between fullscreen and windowed play, and adjust brightness and gamma. Master volume, music, sound effects and the news anchor’s voice are set separately, and breaking-news broadcasts can be turned off. You can also change how quickly the camera rotates and zooms.

Yes. Through Cablegram, ask an opposition leader to support a bill, seek a foreign leader’s backing for a UN vote, or appeal for a peace review. They can accept or refuse, and your personal relationship matters. An accepted request can change a party’s voting line or secure a voting pledge. You can also ask your ministers for advice on their portfolios.

Yes. Bills need the support required by your country’s institutions. You can inspect voting forecasts, follow debates and set your party’s voting line. Even after Parliament passes a bill, executive assent or judicial review can remain part of the procedure. How a bill becomes law ↗

You can propose changes to electoral rules, term lengths, term limits and the way the head of state is selected. Constitutional choices depend on your country’s institutions. You can also call early elections when your office has that power. Politics and institutions ↗

As the reigning monarch in an executive or absolute monarchy, you can change the rules of succession by royal decree. Replacing the heir this way can create a rival claimant and cost public support and stability. Royal decrees also let you change the Crown’s powers.

Succession happens automatically under the country’s inheritance rules. The royal family view lets you explore the family tree, the heir and the line of succession. If the new monarch is under 18, a regent takes over their duties.

Your powers depend on the offices your party holds and the country’s institutions. In government, you can manage public finances, negotiate abroad, direct the armed forces and set policies. In opposition, you organise your party, campaign and use the parliamentary powers available to it. Explore the decisions ↗

Yes. If your party holds seats and the constitution allows it, you can table a no-confidence motion. Check the voting forecast before committing. Some systems also require an alternative majority capable of forming a government. Tabling a no-confidence motion ↗

Open Cablegram, select one of your ministers and choose Ask for advice. Their reply includes an assessment of their portfolio and a recommendation. Use Open file to reach the relevant screen. You decide whether to act on the advice.

Each chamber and elected executive office has its own timetable. A legislative vote can take place during a president’s term. Some chambers renew all their seats together; others renew only a fraction at each election. Assembly shows upcoming dates, while Institutions explains the renewal rules. Chambers and election calendars ↗

Yes, where the presidency and government are separate. A parliamentary election can install a different government while the president remains in office. The constitution determines which powers each side holds. Who governs after an election ↗

Not necessarily. Where government depends on Parliament, the game resolves coalition formation and any required investiture after the election. Parties need compatible partners and sufficient support; a minority or caretaker government is also possible. Seats, coalitions and majorities ↗

Yes. Announce up to three commitments on laws, taxes, spending or electricity capacity, with targets to meet. The game tracks progress during the mandate: fulfilled promises improve party credibility and influence, while broken promises damage them. Announcing a policy does not implement it. Build and defend a platform ↗

You can propose adding or removing an upper chamber and reform Parliament’s powers, executive vetoes and judicial review. These changes follow the relevant constitutional procedure and depend on your authority and the support required. Reforming the constitution ↗

When governing, you can change the annual cap on regular immigration. The law card shows capacity and actual admissions. A higher cap creates room for arrivals; it does not guarantee that people will move to your country. Changing admission rules ↗

Yes. You can propose a set of asylum rules covering access to protection, the right to appeal and detention limits. The law card tracks pending claims and how many were granted or rejected. Immigration and asylum ↗

Yes. Demographics compares arrivals and departures by age and qualifications. When people leave, you can inspect the social groups involved and their main destinations, alongside the overall migration balance.

Yes. Communities shows population shares, integration and naturalisation, alongside your country’s diaspora abroad.

Yes. The legislation system includes working hours, paid leave, the minimum wage and retirement age. Choose the change, check the balance of support and submit it through the applicable procedure. Proposing a law ↗

Yes. Cannabis can be prohibited, decriminalised, restricted to medical use or regulated. Other controlled drugs have separate options, including a state monopoly or a licensed market. You also choose how users are treated and whether enforcement targets trafficking routes, organisations or criminal finances. The Drugs screen tracks legal sales, tax revenue and the remaining criminal market. Changing the law ↗

You can investigate an organisation, build an infiltration network and target its finances, weapons or logistics. Track identified members, then attempt a capture once your intelligence establishes who and where they are. You authorise the operation and follow its report; success is not guaranteed. Intelligence operations ↗

You can choose universal coverage, social insurance or targeted coverage. You also set care priorities, including emergency, maternal and scheduled care, and choose prevention and screening strategies. Health and public services ↗

Yes. In Society, open a social group to compare income before and after tax, wealth, satisfaction and militancy. Groups react differently to living costs, unemployment, housing and public services. Understanding social groups ↗

Yes. Meet the representatives involved in a dispute and offer a compromise or meet their demand. Compare each union’s response and the cost of the measure. An accepted proposal still needs to be implemented through the budget or legislation; the promise alone does not end the strike call. Negotiating a labour dispute ↗

Yes. Workers on strike reduce the labour available in the affected sectors and public services. Labour relations shows the workers involved; choose View disruption to inspect the movement and its effects.

No. Regulation affects covered contracts and spreads as they turn over. The housing screens distinguish the market rent from the rent households actually pay. Rents and housing policy ↗

Yes. Capped resets limit increases at future scheduled resets of eligible mortgages. Existing fixed-rate contracts and purely variable-rate loans keep their own terms. Mortgage protection ↗

Yes. The Reduce delays doctrine increases processing capacity but raises procedural-error risk. Due process guarantees favours quality and trust at the cost of monthly capacity. Doctrine changes take six months to phase in.

Yes. Automatic access favours speed and coverage, with more targeting errors. Means testing improves targeting but slows processing and reduces coverage. Local service desks improve territorial access but need more staff.

Yes. You can facilitate and protect a protest, contain it, disperse it, order an armed crackdown or deploy the military. Stronger coercion can cause casualties and increase political pressure. Review the available forces and risk estimates alongside the movement’s demands. Responding to a protest ↗

Income-tax brackets have a detailed editor. VAT has different rates and product categories, so individual products can receive different treatment. These changes join the same budget proposal as your other tax and spending edits. Taxes and budget reforms ↗

You can issue debt and repay it through the budget screen. Borrowing, tax changes and spending changes are separate decisions, so you can review your finances before choosing how to fund a policy. Public finances ↗

Yes. You can provide emergency liquidity, nationalise a failing bank or liquidate it. These are actions on a particular bank, alongside the wider controls over capital movements and foreign investors. Banking and finance ↗

You can finance corporate investment, reorganise a distressed company or liquidate it. The finance screens also let you buy foreign equity through the sovereign fund and close or reopen the stock exchange. Companies and investment ↗

Yes. Compare current and projected revenue, spending and balance while preparing the proposal. Apply commits the package; Discard abandons the pending changes. Editing the forecast does not itself change the budget in force. Reading and applying a proposal ↗

Yes. Set up a productive-investment programme for a company, a specific good or an entire sector. Choose whether to produce more at home, sell more abroad, create jobs or reduce a critical dependence. Set a budget ceiling and duration, then review the proposed projects and their requirements before authorising the programme. Planning an industrial programme ↗

Yes. Businesses can start expansion projects themselves when demand, expected returns and financing support them. Employment adjusts over time to production needs and the workers available. You can follow employment and investment projects in the economy and finance screens.

Where your country controls its monetary policy, you can set the policy rate yourself or restore central-bank independence and let it adjust rates automatically. Currency unions and exchange-rate arrangements can restrict direct control. Public finances and monetary policy ↗

You can change visitor entry rules, fund promotion and set a visitor levy. Follow visitor origins, spending and accommodation pressure in Economy → Tourism. Safety, prices, transport and accommodation affect arrivals, so more promotion alone does not guarantee more revenue. Tourism and events ↗

Yes. Bid for an open Olympic hosting contest and follow the host vote. You can also organise cultural festivals, conventions and international championships, choosing their location and scale. Events need venues, funding and available security forces. Preparing an event ↗

Yes. Extraction can be nationalised through compensation or seizure, or privatised. You also control individual sites: drill, suspend operations, reopen a field or close it. Extraction and ownership ↗

You can set strategic-reserve targets and monthly purchase budgets, then release stocks manually or select automatic releases during supply disruption or price stress. Purchases still depend on funds and supplies. Military stockpiles have their own targets, which you set through the armed-forces controls. Resources and reserves ↗

You can place power plants on the globe, build ports and airports, draw transport corridors and select provinces for infrastructure programmes. Schools, hospitals, police stations, courthouses and prisons also use provincial placement. Infrastructure and transport ↗

For a passage under your control, you can open or restrict access and set military-transit rules. Port terminals and transport corridors are also manageable parts of the network. Passages and access ↗

Yes. Existing plants can be stopped and restarted. You can also expand their capacity where available, or retire them through a separate decision that shows any decommissioning cost. Managing power plants ↗

As an OPEC member, vote to cut, hold or raise production, then choose whether to respect your quota or overproduce. Eligible swing producers also have the option to start an oil price war; that power is restricted to the relevant members. Resources and oil policy ↗

Both. Fund hazard-specific prevention programmes and watch preparedness develop. When disaster strikes, choose the scale of the response and prioritise lives, national continuity or a balance of both. Follow reconstruction by province and contribute to another country’s recovery. Prevention and disaster response ↗

You can impose sanctions, negotiate trade terms, commit foreign aid and offer military guarantees. Under Diplomacy → Crises, raise the pressure step by step with a public warning, a missile test, a naval exercise or patrol, or the interdiction of a maritime passage. Intelligence provides further options, including collecting information and preparing operations against a target’s systems. Diplomatic choices ↗

Yes. Trade negotiations let you select individual products and set each side’s import-duty reduction. You can exchange counteroffers and phase reductions in over time. A 50% reduction halves a duty; it does not set a 50% tariff. Product-by-product negotiations ↗

Military access, non-aggression, defensive pacts and guarantees are distinct treaty choices. A defensive pact can include additional clauses such as intelligence sharing or offensive assistance. You can also negotiate foreign basing agreements. Treaties and their commitments ↗

Intelligence missions include disrupting a power grid and sabotaging an identified plant. Operations need preparation: build a network, learn about the target system and establish the required access. Review the briefing’s cost, duration and risk before authorising it. Preparing an operation ↗

Yes. You can investigate intrusions and run counterintelligence operations to purge or turn hostile access. Operation reports show the results and exposure; intelligence dossiers also provide actions against identified clandestine organisations and individuals. Intelligence and counterintelligence ↗

When you govern a country on the Security Council, you can propose condemnation, ceasefire or sanctions resolutions for the crises on its agenda. Vote for, against or abstain, and watch the permanent members’ positions: a veto can block adoption. Proposing and voting on a resolution ↗

Diplomacy → Organizations brings together the UN Security Council, the European Union and its central bank, OPEC, the IMF and the IAEA. NATO is a standing alliance under Defence → Alliances: when a member is attacked, each ally decides whether to enter the war, send military support, grant access only or refuse the call. Trade blocs such as USMCA, Mercosur, ASEAN or the African Continental Free Trade Area negotiate agreements as one party, and their members vote on the bloc’s mandate. Diplomacy and organisations ↗

Yes. When the Council election opens, declare your candidacy in your regional group and vote for the candidates you back. A seat requires a two-thirds majority; the last-placed candidate drops out after each round. Elected members sit for two years alongside the five permanent members.

An eligible country can file an application once it meets the entry criteria on stability, inflation, debt, default and war. Negotiations advance only while you keep meeting them, and every member state must approve your accession. As a member, vote on candidates, propose changes to EU rules such as tariff powers or the treaty amendment rule, campaign in European elections and help appoint the Commission. You can also leave the Union, at a cost to your relations with its members.

Yes, when your country faces a real crisis: foreign-currency reserves running short, lost market access for a country that cannot print its own currency, or a sovereign default. The loan is paid in tranches alongside a stabilisation plan. Each quarterly review checks your budget, and widening the deficit beyond the agreed plan suspends the next payment. The budget screen warns you before a change would fail the review.

The front moves day by day between real formations. Terrain, supply lines, encirclement, air superiority and sea control decide where it advances, and a province counts as occupied only once most of its ground is held. Air forces fly patrols, strikes and close support from their bases; navies fight for control of the sea, and a blockade cuts maritime trade. Each side’s support for the war wears down with casualties, duration and lost territory, and a collapse can force defeat. Occupied provinces stop producing for their owner, so a war is felt in the economy as well as on the map. Preparing and directing a campaign ↗

Yes. The war council asks for your grounds: defence of an ally, a coercive operation, disarmament, imposing a political status or conquest. Each is rated from legitimate to aggression, and the cost at home rises with it. Before you confirm, review the provinces you claim, the countries expected to join the fighting, back the target or condemn you, where your ministers stand, and the expected loss of stability and approval, including any treaty you would break.

The general staff assigns units to sectors and carries out their movements and attacks. You set the campaign directive: Hold, Limited pressure or Major offensive, with changes available at the next monthly review. Across multiple fronts, leave theatre priorities on Auto or override them yourself. You still decide equipment orders, stockpile targets and amphibious assaults. Directing a campaign ↗

Yes. A coercive operation is a limited air and missile campaign. Choose a targeting doctrine: suppress air defences, degrade missile forces, or hit energy or resources. Ground combat and naval manoeuvre stay outside the mandate. You can conclude the operation, or authorise an invasion to escalate to full war at a further political cost.

Yes. Defence → Arsenal → Order shows the available offer and its origin. Review the model, quantity, cost and production time before ordering, then follow deliveries in Orders. Supplier availability, military funds and sanctions affect what you can obtain. Equipment and stockpiles ↗

You can start either a declared or a clandestine nuclear-weapons programme. Fund it, pause it or abandon it, and rebuild a depleted arsenal. A clandestine programme can become suspected or exposed, so secrecy is part of the risk. If your country signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, exposure brings an IAEA inspection: cooperate and dismantle the programme, or refuse and face sanctions. The nuclear programme ↗

In the nuclear war room, choose targets and allocate warheads while the projected retaliation is shown. A first strike severely damages your stability, approval and relations with every country, and the target and its guarantors may retaliate. If you are struck, choose your response, from holding back to massive retaliation. Strikes kill, destroy infrastructure and housing, and send soot into the atmosphere that affects the climate. By default, AI powers only fire in retaliation; a game rule can allow them to strike first when facing an existential threat. Nuclear weapons ↗

You can demand annexation of occupied provinces covered by your declared territorial war goals. The peace screen lets you select eligible provinces and evaluate whether the other side will accept. Occupation gives military control; the agreed settlement transfers sovereignty. You can also negotiate a ceasefire or an armistice. War and peace ↗

Choose how each occupied area is run: administer, repress or expel. Repression weakens resistance but kills civilians; expulsion drives the population out. Hostility can build from calm to open revolt, and the world watches how you treat civilians: harm done to them damages relations and can bring sanctions. Fighting also kills civilians near the front and forces people to flee, some of them abroad.

Yes. In Political Status, negotiate the purchase or cession of an entire territory with its own administration. Choose a price and proposed status. The affected authorities must agree, and changing sovereignty requires a referendum. Status negotiations also let you propose autonomy or independence where your authority allows it. Negotiating political status ↗

You can propose a ceasefire or an armistice. If accepted, fighting stops while forces hold their positions; sovereignty does not change. A ceasefire has a set duration, while an armistice has no automatic end date. A final territorial settlement is a separate peace agreement. Ceasefires and peace negotiations ↗

Military treaties are defensive. When you are attacked, each partner decides whether to join the fighting, send military support, grant access or refuse; allies who join commit their own formations to the front. When an ally is attacked, you face the same choice, and refusing the call damages the alliance’s credibility. Treaties and their commitments ↗

Yes. Offer monthly funding, equipment from your stockpiles, or both. An accepted programme makes your country a supporter without directly committing it as a combatant. Embargoes and supply routes can interrupt equipment deliveries. You can also request support when your own country is fighting. Sending and receiving military support ↗

Yes, with an active basing agreement. In Defence → Bases → Open the base room, choose the type, size and an authorised location. The agreement limits military domains and capacity. Naval bases require a coastal location; logistics, air defence and shelter hardening are added to an existing base.

Yes, for eligible territories when your authority allows it. Political Status lets you propose autonomy, independence or integration, exchange counteroffers and inspect local support. The affected authorities must consent, and changes such as independence or sovereignty transfers require a referendum. Negotiating a territory’s future ↗

Yes. Alongside independent national research, you can acquire licences, arrange scientific cooperation or enter a joint industrial project. Agreements depend on the partner’s capabilities, your relations and any technology embargo. Research and partnerships ↗

Yes. Establish a site in an unoccupied lunar region, build facilities and surface links, and send trained crews. Sites can extract resources and arrange their return to Earth. Lunar sites and missions ↗

You need crewed-spaceflight capability, trained crew and an operational habitat with life support. Check power, room for the arrivals and cargo storage. The site needs at least three months of supplies after accounting for the incoming crew. Preparing a crew mission ↗

You can appoint governors, set colonial charters and taxation, and respond to requests for autonomy or a referendum. You also decide how to handle independence settlements. Governing the colony continues beyond building its facilities. Governing a lunar colony ↗

Yes. The game includes console commands to add money, speed up research or construction, finish projects and change territory. A successful cheat permanently disables Steam achievements for that campaign, even if you later turn it off. Help and display commands do not disable achievements. Console and cheats ↗

The knowledge already gained is kept. Stopping a programme frees its slot and scientific capacity for other research. You can also change an active programme’s allocation without stopping it. Prioritising research ↗