Game Design Document Preview: MAKE GAMES NOT WAR
Published on March 10, 2025
**MAKE GAMES NOT WAR - Game Design Document **
Preview / Summary
Game Title: MAKE GAMES NOT WAR
Genre: Multiplayer Team-Based Political Strategy / Decision-Making / Mini-Game Collection
Platform: PC
Target Audience:
Fans of strategy and political simulation (Democracy series, Reigns), players who enjoy multiplayer competition, those interested in retro games and a variety of mechanics, and anyone who appreciates satire and absurd humor.
Core Hook:
MAKE GAMES NOT WAR is a political strategy game where two teams, each representing a superpower in an alternate reality, relive Cold War tensions—through video games. Critical decisions are made using Reigns-style cards, deep policies are managed with the complexity of Democracy 4, and disputes are settled via rapid-fire mini-games inspired by iconic mechanics from gaming history. This experience fuses teamwork (and conflict), espionage, long-term planning, and real-time reflexes. The goal: outmaneuver the rival team through strategy and gaming skill, becoming the dominant superpower at the end of 100 years.
What makes it unique: It delivers both deep, team-driven political strategy and immediate, dopamine-fueled action via a constantly shifting stream of mini-games—offering a hypnotic, thought-provoking, and satirical experience.
Key Features:
- Team-Based Management: Control a nation with 3–6 players per team. Share roles as President and Ministers, collaborate—or pursue your own interests.
- Reigns-Style Decision Cards: Shape your nation’s destiny with hundreds of cards; every choice has both short- and long-term effects.
- Deep Bar System: Track and manage every aspect of your country via 3 Major, 24 Medium, and 72 Minor bars—Society, Diplomacy, Economy.
- Legendary Mini-Games: Resolve disputes and wars through dozens of mini-games inspired by classics—from Pac-Man to Starcraft, FPS to platformers.
- Satirical Alternate Reality: Set in a retro-futuristic world where humanity (maybe with a little alien help) has decided to resolve conflicts through games, not war; a witty take on politics and human nature.
- Dynamic Tempo: The game adapts its pace to player state, targeting a perpetual “flow state” and playful “brain rot.”
- Cooperation & Betrayal: Encounter Prisoner’s Dilemma moments—will you play for the team, or for yourself?
- Evolving World: New cards and events are continuously added for a dynamic, up-to-date experience.
Theme & Tone:
The game draws on the visual style of the Cold War era, with a retro-futuristic twist. In this alternate world where aliens have replaced war with video games, political maneuvers, bureaucracy, and international relations are handled with satire, sarcasm, and sharp wit. While never taking itself too seriously, the game aims to provoke thought about human nature, selfishness, and the challenges of collaboration.