One of my more interesting projects lately, has been a political one. There's a popular free online nation-building game called NationStates. In this game, you create a fictional nation, you answer daily issues meant to shape the political ideals and legislative laws of your country, and you roleplay with other people doing the same thing in like-minded groups known as regions.

I joined NationStates ten years ago, and have been working to develop the fictional story of my nation, The Republic of Tessen, ever since. It's been a side project for me, toying with the politics and economy every once in a while. Recently, though, I decided to increase my involvement in the game. I developed a geography-based region; I created the ground work for a regional history; I established the powerhouse Republic of Tessen as the founding nation; and I endeavored to begin a project of recruiting other like-minded, Democracy-driven nations to help me build a regional presence known as.... the American Union.

As of this blog post, there are 116 game nations (aka, players) who have joined the American Union (all of which are fictionally located in North, Central and South America). We're developing a regional trade network, a Union government, national identities, and a collective story that rivals most projects of its kind on the internet.

According to game statistics, the American Union is currently the 88th largest region in the entire game (out of 16,979 regions). We've established a very strong presence and we're still growing. The experiment continues, and I'd like to invite you to join us and become part of the fun!

NationStates is a simple game. Beyond the basic workings of your country, most of the social environment is built through creative roleplay. It doesn't take much time or effort to play the game itself, and any additional roleplay you choose to pursue is entirely at your discretion. Come take a look at the American Union. Explore the Republic of Tessen. Check out the Tessen Factbook I put together. See what we're all about. Then, sign up at NationStates.net, and relocate to the American Union region.

We'd love to have you in our story. And I'd love to see what kind of nation YOU come up with!

-Jon
posted by Jon at 10:42 PM  I   I  0 comments