Icehole games, the Greek developers better known for World Basketball Manager and soon to achieve international stardom via the forthcoming political simulation Us & Them, have been all nice and released a couple of their older games as freeware. This means you can be playing both Sim Junta: Come be the Bastard and 1821 in a few minutes, provided of course you got a decent connection and are smart enough to figure out where to click.Now, as 1821 is only available in Greek and -let's face it- the Greek audience of this blog isn't exactly gargantuan, let me focus on Sim Junta instead. It is, after all, a pretty deep statistical management/strategy game, that interestingly puts the player in the (stinky, imperialist) shoes of a dictator of a fictional country. Desperately trying to please ones American masters, avoiding being overthrown by revolutionary guerrillas and simultaneously making sure there's a constant flow of money from said country to a secret Swiss bank account is the object of the game. Knowing how to deal with a variety of social classes and interest groups the key. How very realistic, really. Great fun -in a thoughtful quasi-satirical manner- too!
Related @ Gnome's Lair: Basketball Manager for free, Gun Mute, Monty's Christmas Special, Prototype II: the shmup
If I had the extra cash, I would buy a computer dedicated to all these games you inform us about..
ReplyDeleteMatter of fact... one day I will. The next time I upgrade my art computer I will set the old one a side for Gnomes games...
Do you have all these games yourself? -or just download them as you play them.. ?
I bet he does dietrix, i would also like to have all these games on 1 computer that would rule.
ReplyDeleteP.s Gnome, what did you think of YaFaze's redesign?
Oh, no need for cash dear Deitrix. Most of them are pretty old games and they don't tend to have high hardware requirements.... As for the games, well, most I've already played and the rest I do indeed play. Even for a while, that is...
ReplyDeleteThink it's a keeper kongsnutz!
Oh man, I know someone who'll love Sim Junta...
ReplyDeleteIn a satirical democratic way I hope...
ReplyDeleteNow that's the best tagline for a video game EVER!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of my pseudo-Commie regime in Tropico, hehe...
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to get home to play this, sucks to be reading this at work :(
Just played this a few mins ago - reminds me of Conflict : The Middle East Simulator, another of those (old) games that you have play factions off each other to stave off eventual defeat for as long as possible.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a dictator in Tropico seems to enjoy a longer life expectancy than in SimJunta :)
Hehehe, I can see the allure of it porroe :)
ReplyDeleteAh, well, dear Roys you're quite right about a dictatorship's life expectancy in both games, though I'm afraid we all have to admit to Tropico's superiority. Then again, it does lack a bit in the realism factor.
Were the hell is some screens for this game..?? They do not exsist!
ReplyDeleteSo I can be an Imperialist dictator? Hmmm...
ReplyDelete*FK twiddles the end of his waxed moustache, throws his black cloak around his portly form...*
MWUUAAHHHAAAHHHAA!!! Bow down before me peasants....
Nope they don't Deitrix dear. Then again there's not much to see beside a basic interface and a few faux nespwapers...
ReplyDeleteAnd they will tremble too oh Father, just before they dscover your well-masqueraded socialist benevolence that is :)
Hey, that Sim Junta is a Dictator rip-off!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, how strong is Greek game development industry in a whole? Are there any more companies worth mentioning?
ReplyDeleteShit! Did I get caught out re-distributing the bread to the orphans just before handing the keys to the factory over to the workers?? LOL!
ReplyDelete*DAMN!!*
Well, Chentzilla dear, I 'll have to admit that -despite an almost decent demoscene- greek game development is almost non-existant. A few very small teams have come and gone, some managed to barely survive and the only ones actually trying are Icehole Games and Anima (creators of Conspiracies I & II). hmm... might actually just elaborate in a feature post.
ReplyDeleteShould have been more careful there comrade Father. You could have mailed the keys... BTW, if you can see Marx in Soho, do so... It's a play you'll love, provided of course the acting is decent.
Gnome, interesting post alerting us about game development in Greece. Personally, just as you've said, it does seem kinda non-existent though. Do Icehole games do well in Greece (because no one on our side of the pond talks about them)?
ReplyDeleteWell, I wouldn't believe they are outselling anyone, but they do seem to make enough money to survive and have an odd drin or too, which frankly is everything one could ask for...
ReplyDeleteicehole's biggest hit is World Basketball Manager. Is now in 3rd edition. The upcoming "Us And Them" also looks nice.
ReplyDelete*very* nice actually...
ReplyDelete