How to Play Politscape

1. Getting Started

Politscape runs entirely in your browser — no download, no account required to try. Open the site, click Play, and you are on the world map within seconds.

When the game loads you will see the world map rendered in your browser using MapLibre GL. Your country is highlighted. The map can be panned by clicking and dragging, and zoomed with the scroll wheel or pinch gesture.

2. Map Navigation

The map shows every country divided into provinces. Each province is an individual territory that can be captured, defended, or used as a staging ground for military operations.

— Click a country to select it and open its information panel. — Hover over any country or city for a tooltip with name and population data. — Capitals are visually distinct from other cities. — Toggle between globe and flat Mercator projection using the view controls. — Sea regions are visible alongside land provinces and can be controlled by naval forces.

3. Military — Ground Divisions

Ground divisions are your primary land combat units. Each division can be recruited, moved along land routes, and ordered to attack adjacent enemy provinces.

Movement: select a division, then click a destination province. Divisions follow connected land routes. You can set waypoints by middle-clicking intermediate provinces.

Combat: when a division enters a province occupied by an enemy, combat begins automatically. Battle outcomes depend on unit strength, terrain, supply lines, combat modifiers, and research bonuses.

Splitting: large division stacks can be split to cover multiple fronts simultaneously.

Encirclement: if you surround an enemy division from multiple directions, a pincer indicator appears. Encircled units suffer severe combat penalties.

4. Military — Naval Fleets

Naval forces operate across sea regions — large ocean zones that connect coastal provinces. Control of sea regions enables blockades, convoy protection, and amphibious support.

Naval orders: assign fleets to patrol, blockade, or escort convoy missions. Blockading an enemy's coast cuts off their trade income. Convoy missions protect your own trade routes.

Coastal provinces can only be attacked over land unless the attacker controls the adjacent sea region. Controlling sea access dramatically changes strategic options.

5. Military — Air Units

Air units provide strategic reach beyond land and sea. They can be deployed from airbases and recalled at any time.

Range: air unit range scales with your aviation research level. Early-game air power covers local regions; advanced research enables intercontinental operations.

F6 drones: specialized drone units provide extended reconnaissance and precision strike capability without risking conventional aircraft.

Air support: air units deployed over contested provinces provide combat bonuses to your ground and naval forces in those areas.

6. Diplomacy

Diplomacy shapes the political landscape without firing a shot. Use the diplomacy panel to negotiate with other players and AI nations.

Alliances: form defensive or offensive alliances that trigger mutual defence obligations. Strong alliances deter aggression and enable coordinated military campaigns.

Meetings: arrange diplomatic meetings to negotiate treaties, trade agreements, and ceasefires. Meeting outcomes depend on your relationship score, military strength, and negotiating position.

Blocs: join or lead political blocs that align multiple nations under shared foreign policy goals. Bloc membership provides economic and military bonuses.

Votes: some global decisions — such as international sanctions or peacekeeping operations — are resolved by bloc votes. Use diplomacy to build voting coalitions.

7. Economy and Treasury

Your economy generates income from provinces, trade routes, and tariffs. Income funds military recruitment, construction, and research.

Budget: the treasury panel shows your income, spending, and balance. Running a deficit increases your debt load. High debt triggers credit rating downgrades that increase borrowing costs.

Trade routes: connect your provinces to foreign markets to boost trade income. Naval control of sea regions is required to maintain ocean trade routes.

Tariffs: set tariff rates to balance domestic industry protection against trade revenue. High tariffs reduce imports but may trigger retaliatory measures from trade partners.

Companies: national companies can be founded to boost specific economic sectors. Company income supplements government revenues.

8. Research and Technology

The research tree advances your military and economic capabilities over time. Research points accumulate each turn and can be invested in selected technologies.

Military research: improves division combat strength, air range, naval combat effectiveness, and unlocks new unit types.

Economic research: reduces corruption, improves trade efficiency, and unlocks new company types.

Special projects: rare research projects unlock unique capabilities such as nuclear deterrence and advanced drone warfare. Special projects require sustained investment over many turns.

9. XP and Ranks

Politscape tracks your performance across games and awards XP for victories, diplomatic achievements, and economic milestones.

Ranks progress from Trainee through eleven tiers to Politscape Master. Higher ranks unlock cosmetic items in the shop and display your experience to other players in multiplayer games.

10. Multiplayer

Multiplayer mode connects you with other players on a shared world map. All diplomacy, combat, and economic interactions happen in real time between human-controlled nations.

Chat: an in-game chat system allows direct and broadcast communication with other players. Messages are moderated automatically.

Joining: select Multiplayer from the main menu to join or create a session.