The Democratic Socialism Simulator is (sadly, sadly) still just as relevant in 2024

Happy 4th of July, I guess.

I don’t feel so patriotic after the double whammy of the disastrous Trump-Biden debate on June 27 and the Supreme Court that makes our presidents impeccable monarchs on July 1st? Same, buddy.

On the (very small, vague, fleeting) positive side, it’s a great time to talk about socialism. And it’s always a good time to talk about games, so I’m taking another look at Molleindustria’s Democratic Socialism Simulator. Released in February 2020, the turn-based decision-making sim lets you carry out presidential actions as if you were a democratic socialist elected to office. (Yes, Democratic National Committee, I know you’ll never let that happen. You’ve got that terribly clearly.)

The scenarios are presented by political actors depicted as animals, such as the lobbyist who looks like a shark or the activist who looks like a panther, which helps prevent this game from becoming more depressing than informative. As you make decisions, such as whether to forgive student loans or openly support unionization efforts, a series of statistics and graphs at the bottom of the screen show the impact of your choices.

Your decisions don’t just affect tangible things like the budget, though; you also have to consider how much power you give the people, how your choices affect the environment, and which voters your rhetoric might alienate. You also have to keep enough seats in Congress to make decisions. In short, if you go full communist, you’ll either lose the next election or be overthrown. If you go hard on the free market, the same thing will happen.

But the goal of the game — to get re-elected and complete two full terms as president — isn’t necessarily the point of playing. At least not now, four years after the game came out and after months of continued disappointment from literally every branch of the U.S. government.

I am pleased to report that the only parts of Democratic Socialism Simulator that are no longer relevant are things that actually happened. The game’s developers could not have known about the uprising on January 6, 2021, when the game was released in February 2020, despite the in-game quip “Who would have thought America could overthrow its own government?”

Image: Molleindustria

Nor could the developers have known that President Biden would unceremoniously withdraw from Iraq, or that expanding the Supreme Court would be something liberals would seriously talk about, or that we would be facing a recession for the past four years, or that we would actually “expand” our operations in Yemen.

Ultimately, it’s a shame to watch the game walk you through all the endless possibilities that would be better for the United States and its people, explaining why and how these options would be effective, only to click away and return to a reality where neither political party adequately represents the people.

But I still think this game is a great way to teach people in your life about the benefits of democratic socialism. Even as someone who is relatively well-versed in socialist political philosophies, there are scenarios in Democratic Socialism Simulator which I had never thought of before, such as giving priority to employees at companies that are being closed down.

In my most recent replay (each playthrough lasts anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on how long you take to make choices and how quickly you lose), I was proud of having a successful second term with lots of money and seats in Congress. But halfway through my second term, I lost focus—not because I was turning 84, but because I had to do laundry—and was eventually overthrown for spending too much money trying to make America as socially acceptable as possible before my presidency ended.

Image: Molleindustria

The best part of the game is its replayability. Even after running the sim dozens of times, I still occasionally see a scenario or character that I haven’t seen before. So if you’re feeling depressed about the state of our great nation this Independence Day, consider escaping to a version of it where you Actually Make change happen and make your voice heard.

The game is free on the App Store and $2.99 ​​on Steam, Itch.ioand Google Play.