NationStates
NationStates (formerly Jennifer Government: NationStates) is a multiplayer government simulation browser game created and developed by Max Barry. Based loosely on the novel Jennifer Government,[1] the game was publicly released on 13 November 2002[2] with the site originally founded as an independent vehicle publicising the novel one week before its release.[1] NationStates continues to promote books written by Barry, but has developed to be a sizeable online community, with a large accompanying forum board. Since its release, over 7.3 million user-created nations have been created, with around 256,901 being active as of February 2022.[3]
Players begin by setting up their nation through answering a short questionnaire, which determines the type of government it has.[4][5] The gameplay hinges on deciding government policies through "issues", which are presented to the player multiple times each day.[5] The player may choose from a list of options or dismiss the problem. The player's responses may affect the nation's status across three main statistics: political freedom, civil rights, and economy. Based on the nation's main statistics, the nation is assigned to one of 27 government types.[5]
Players can also choose to join the World Assembly, a voluntary body concerned with the drafting and passage of international law. It has two entirely separate chambers: the General Assembly and the Security Council. While the General Assembly is concerned with passing legislation on various topics, the Security Council recognises various nations and regions for good or bad deeds.[6] Players can also be assigned to different regions, which function similarly to a chat room.[7]
In an interview, Max Barry said the influence for the game began with a questionnaire he took: "NationStates was influenced by a little political quiz I did once, where you answer a bunch of multiple-choice questions and have your politics categorised. ... It was fun, but I also wanted to see what kind of country my policies created, and have to deal with the consequences".[8]
Jay Is Games's Jerrad praised the game stating "the real beauty in this game is that it's accessible on so many levels."[9] In the 2008 book The Video Game Theory Reader 2, Lars Konzack critiqued that it promoted libertarianism but says "open to experimentation and reflection on politics rather than being merely political propaganda. It becomes a philosophical game in which the player is invited to become part of an examination of political ideas. This game takes advantage of the potential in games to truly put the player in control and let him reflect on his own decisions, investigating political theory turned into meaningful game aesthetics."[10][failed verification] In the 2008 book The Art and Science of Interface and Interaction Design, Volume 1, C. Paul said NationStates "is an interesting take on the interplay of freedom and control (and governance without government)".[5]
ProgrammableWeb's Kevin Sundstrom listed NationStates among the 30 New APIs remarking its application programming interface "provides a developer interface for automate game world data collection".[11]
