Frequently asked questions...

Is this a standalone game or an expansion?

Democracy 3:Africa is a standalone game. You do not need to own Democracy 3 to run and enjoy the game. However, it does install into the same location so the existing expansion packs for the D3 will also automatically be installed alongside it (if you already own them). So, if you own or buy the 'extremism' expansion (for example), it will work in both games, and you do not need to buy it or install it again.

The idea behind the game was to 're-implement' the existing Democracy 3 game to suit African countries, so it is similar, but tweaked in a number of ways.

How is the game different to Democracy 3?

Democracy 3:Africa offers the player new challenges. Although at first glance the user interface will appear similar, there are a number of changes (apart from the obviously new graphics for voters and ministers and events). The voter groups are slightly different, with 'rural' 'urban' and 'women' introduced as new groups, and the previous 'commuters' and 'farmers' no longer present. We also have a bunch of new events and dilemmas that can take place, and some new variables have been added to the simulation to track data that is more important in African countries.

The game also has new music, and a whole bunch of carefully designed new countries to try your hand at.

Why is country X not included

Selecting the countries for the game was no easy task. The first impulse might have been to pick the most populous countries, or the ones which had the highest number of gamers, or people online. However the game the game exclusively at gamers who live in Africa. We have chosen countries purely on the basis of those which give the widest possible variety of gameplay challenges.

For example, Mauritius allows us to set up a completely different challenge to the one the player will face with, for example, Nigeria or South Africa. Note that modding-in new countries is very easy and we hope players will enjoy doing so.

This game is biased/wrong/racist/bad in some way...

Yes it is. Almost certainly. We do not pretend otherwise. All attempts to represent the culture or economy of a country by people who are not native to that country will be in many ways wrong or biased. Positech is a UK-based company, so we no doubt have some prejudices and biases and big gaps in our knowledge. We have definitely done our best to research the countries involved as much as possible to make this representation as accurate as possible *within the simulation*.

Remember ultimately this is a game, and designed to be fun, and that true accuracy is impossible. Also be aware that we are very open to criticism, and are actively interested in feedback. We have no political agenda here, and are trying to represent African states as best we can. Please let us know where we got it wrong.