EDIT: this review was for 1.6.2, the game version before spheres of influence released. the game is very fun in 1.6.2. it's complete trash since 1.7.0, the new mechanics like spheres of influence or foreign investments as well as various other changes broke it. AI can't handle them even 5 patches later. no one knows how it fix this mess, so I'll roll back and continue playing 1.6.2

this is a nice game, but it was marketed incorrectly. it's not really a strategy game, nor an economic simulator, tho it has elements of both.

first and foremost it's an idle game.

while other paradox games can be compared to clicker games: that is, you may get carpal tunnel from clicking and micromanaging everything, here you just sit back, relax and wait until some timers run out, then click a couple more times, and wait for more timers to run out.....not even warfare requires your direct input.

and compared to other idle games on the market it's waaaay too overpriced. and just look at recent dlc price, it's like 2/3 of base price. What are they thinking?

edit: after finishing my first 100 year playthrough as austria (took only about 70 hours) I think east asia needs a dlc, women characters need to appear more often, and positivism is too prevalent. Also britian is op, but I don't mind having a final boss style country. There were some bugs.

The game is good, and has a potential to be even better.

edit2: over 120 hours over 10 days of gameplay, I haven't quite slept for a few days, or so I feel. You know what, it's a very addictive game, kinda like opium. Speaking of opium. Did you know you can get the english, all english people all over the world, addicted to opium if you play east india, try to switch to state atheism, and get opium for the masses event? And then you can get chinese addicted to opium through opium wars too.

EDIT: this review was for 1.6.2, the game version before spheres of influence released. the game is very fun in 1.6.2. it's complete trash since 1.7.0, the new mechanics like spheres of influence or foreign investments as well as various other changes broke it. AI can't handle them even 5 patches later. no one knows how it fix this mess, so I'll roll back and continue playing 1.6.2 this is a nice game, but it was marketed incorrectly. it's not really a strategy game, nor an economic simulator, tho it has elements of both. first and foremost it's an idle game. while other paradox games can be compared to clicker games: that is, you may get carpal tunnel from clicking and micromanaging everything, here you just sit back, relax and wait until some timers run out, then click a couple more times, and wait for more timers to run out.....not even warfare requires your direct input. and compared to other idle games on the market it's waaaay too overpriced. and just look at recent dlc price, it's like 2/3 of base price. What are they thinking? edit: after finishing my first 100 year playthrough as austria (took only about 70 hours) I think east asia needs a dlc, women characters need to appear more often, and positivism is too prevalent. Also britian is op, but I don't mind having a final boss style country. There were some bugs. The game is good, and has a potential to be even better. edit2: over 120 hours over 10 days of gameplay, I haven't quite slept for a few days, or so I feel. You know what, it's a very addictive game, kinda like opium. Speaking of opium. Did you know you can get the english, all english people all over the world, addicted to opium if you play east india, try to switch to state atheism, and get opium for the masses event? And then you can get chinese addicted to opium through opium wars too.