Playing politics in video games: how you can have democracy or despotism at your fingertips

Tropico and Democracy 3 give you a chance to experience being a political leader

Polling day looms and, as the clamour for our votes reaches a climax in this extraordinarily close-run election, it might be supposed that gaming has little to add to the debate. But whether democracy really works and how is a question the gaming industry has taken on and with interesting results.

Factors that determine not just a fair election but a working, democratic government are, in reality, incredibly hard to track. But in games, complexities such as voting, governing and policy-making can be expressed through simple, interactive mechanics, in turn illustrating how our political system works.