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Countries

Lawmaker has multiple fictional countries, each a self-contained political simulation: laws, elections, and the economy play out separately in each, so what happens in one country doesn't change another. The simulations stay separate, but players don't have to — parties connect across borders through international blocs and cross-country messaging. Choosing a country is really choosing a community to join.

What countries share, and what makes each unique

Every country uses the same political issues, laws catalogue, rules, and proportional electoral system. What differs from country to country:

  • Population and legislatures — the scale and structure of politics.
  • Cabinet and constitutional offices — unique government roles, and sometimes special institutions like a monarchy.
  • Permanent national moods — a baked-in cultural character that tilts how voters weigh issues.
  • Community and history — each country grows its own meta-game, traditions, and legislative record.

Available countries

Country Character
Avalon The flagship: a large Westminster-style constitutional monarchy (65m people, 650 seats), with the most established community.
Marianne A French-inspired republic.
Columbia An American-inspired presidential system.
Rheinland A German-inspired federal democracy.

Choosing a country

If you're new, Avalon is the safest start — it's the most active and established. Otherwise, look for a country with an engaged community and a gap in its political spectrum you could fill. Before committing, check who's already playing, recent elections, and the current laws, then build a party that occupies space no one else does. A unique, well-placed party is far more impactful than a copy of an existing one.

Private countries

Some countries are private, invite-only games run by supporters for a closed community. They're marked with a padlock, and joining one needs an invite code (a share link or a code you enter) from the country owner. Creating a private country is a supporter-only feature.

Proposing a new country

Any logged-in player can propose a public country from the countries list, defining its name, population, system type, legislatures, cabinet positions, constitutional offices, and permanent national moods (and optionally a flag). Proposals go through staff moderation and then community upvoting, with the most popular and well-built proposals prioritised for launch. You can track your own proposals and their status on the countries list.

Country pages

Each country has overview pages bringing together its current laws and legislative history, active parties and seat distribution, the current government, the election schedule, recent activity, any Crown status, and active national moods. Two extras give a country depth:

  • Historical events — major lore moments from the country's past (its founding, a revolution, a war), added by the country owner or proposed by any player for approval. These are for lore not already captured by the game's own records of elections and legislation.
  • National flag — every country can have one. When a country has none, any player can start a 48-day flag-suggestion process where the community uploads and upvotes designs, and the most-upvoted flag wins.

Historical events

Historical events are major, one-off moments in a country's life story that give it depth and character. Good examples include:

  • The founding or independence of the country
  • A constitutional revolution or regime change
  • A major war, invasion, or peace treaty
  • A significant natural disaster or national crisis
  • The discovery of a valuable resource
  • A landmark social or cultural turning point

Don't duplicate what's already recorded

Events that are already tracked elsewhere in the game — such as constitutional changes, elections, and passed legislation — should not be entered as historical events. Use the historical events section for lore that isn't captured by those systems.

Adding a historical event

Each event records a year (AD), a short headline, and an optional longer description that is hidden until a player clicks to expand it.

One event per year

Only one historical event can exist per year in a country. If a year is already taken, you will see a warning as you type.

Who can add events:

User type Action
Country owner or admin Add event — published immediately
Any other logged-in player Propose event — saved as a draft pending approval

Proposed events are shown in a dashed style and marked "Pending approval". Only the submitting player, the country owner, and admins can see them until approved.

Approving and managing proposed events

Country owners and admins see an Approve button on each pending event, and a Reject & delete button to discard a proposal that doesn't fit the country's lore. They can also Delete an already-published event from their country's record.

Email notification for country owners

If you proposed the country (you are its owner), you will receive an email notification whenever a player submits a lore event proposal that is awaiting your approval — for any of your countries, public or private. The email includes the event year, headline, and description, along with a direct link to your country page where you can review and approve it. You can manage this notification in your email preferences.

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