History VideoGame / HiddenAgenda1988

* AllThereInTheManual: A detailed history of Chimerica.

* FictionalPoliticalParty: National Liberation is left-wing, Christian Reform is centrist, and Popular Stability is right-wing. Each offers three nominees for your cabinet, which has four positions to fill--so you'll need to hire from at least two parties.

A PoliticalStrategyGame set in the BananaRepublic of Chimerica, which is struggling to get back on its feet after 40 years of dictatorial rule. As Presidente, you must balance the demands coming at you from all sectors of society with Chimerica's vulnerable position as a Third World country in the middle of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: If you follow the advice of Popular Stability [[spoiler: or Christian Reform]], you'll have a civil war on your hands, death squads running rampant, and the Army effectively in control. If you follow the advice of National Liberation, you'll have a civil war on your hands, an American embargo that destroys the economy, Chimerica in the arms of a Soviet Bloc that really can't provide much help. A careful middle path can leave death squads running rampant under an unelected dictator...but the nation will be at peace. And, no, you ''can't'' have a free or fair election ''and'' have a military that will actually obey orders all the time.

* DemocracyIsFlawed: The game indicates that some countries just aren't ready for democracy. [[spoiler: If you hold an election, one of two factions of the military will take control of the election and the country and starting a civil war. The only way to keep the military on a leash is to become a dictator yourself.]]

** Just because you're in charge does not mean those beneath you will always tell you the truth, nor does it guarantee that they'll always follow your orders or won't have an agenda of their own. Even advisors you may trust may engage omit important details about an issue.

** Leading a country is tough. Leading a country successfully is even harder. Leading a Third World country filled with socio-economic wounds just days after a dictator's fall with actors on all sides of the political aisle willing to commit atrocities ''while in the middle of the Cold War'' as both superpowers eye you is a '''nightmare'''.

** Just because you're in charge does not mean those beneath you will always tell you the truth or 'accidentally' omit important details, will always follow your orders, or won't have an agenda of their own.

** Also each minister in your cabinet has their own ''hidden agenda'' and if you violate it they'll launch a coup. Notably the game doesn't ever tell directly you what their hidden agenda is, you have to work it out based on their profile, their words, the timing of a coup, and sometimes what other characters say.

** Just because you're in charge does not mean those beneath you will always tell you the truth or 'accidentally' omits important details, will always follow your orders, or won't have an agenda of their own.

** This include

** Also each minister in your cabinet has their own ''hidden agenda'' and if you violate it they'll launch a coup. Notably the game doesn't ever tell directly you what their hidden agenda is, you have to work it out based on their profile, their words, , the timing of a coup, and sometimes what other characters say.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: More than a few characters [[BitchInSheepsClothing are not as innocent as they seem]], not all of their lies are obvious, and some things are never directly stated, forcing the player to read between the lines, listen to characters offering alternative viewpoints, and note when their words contradict something you already know.

** Also each minister in your cabinet has their own ''hidden agenda'' and if you violate it they'll launch a coup. Notably the game doesn't ever tell directly you what their hidden agenda is, you're have to work it out based on their profile, their words, and sometimes what other characters

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Narrowly dodged. The game was released in 1988, and takes place over three years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. However, no dates are given, so it reads today as an [[TheEighties Eighties]] period piece. (The manual implies a mid-[[TheNineties Nineties]] setting, but it also [[ManualMisprint gets several characters' names wrong]].) Then again, the ending recap comes from the Tricentennial [presumably 2076] Edition of an American encyclopedia, described as being from "over a century" later...

* MixedAncestry: According to the manual, Chimerica has a largely [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizo mestizo]] population.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Farsante. Practically everyone turned against him regardless of their position on the political spectrum. However, the trope is also subverted in that a few of the major characters only turned against Farsante to save their own skins...

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Narrowly dodged. The game was released in 1988, and takes place over three years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. However, no dates are given, so it reads today as an [[TheEighties Eighties]] period piece. (The manual implies a mid-[[TheNineties Nineties]] setting, but it also [[ManualMisprint gets several characters' names wrong]].) Then again, the ending recap comes from the Tricentennial [presumably 2076] Edition of the "Encyclopedia Americana", described as being from "over a century" later...

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Narrowly dodged. The game was released in 1988, and takes place over three years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. However, no dates are given, so it reads today as an [[TheEighties Eighties]] period piece. (The manual implies a mid-[[TheNineties Nineties]] setting, but it also [[ManualMisprint gets several characters' names wrong]].)

* BlackAndGrayMorality: If you follow the advice of Popular Stability [[spoiler: or Christian Reform]], you'll have a civil war on your hands, death squads running rampant, and the Army effectively in control. If you follow the advice of National Liberation, you'll have a civil war on your hands, an American embargo that destroys the economy, Chimerica in the arms of a Soviet Bloc that really can't provide much help. A careful middle path can leave death squads running rampant under an unelected dictator...but the nation will be at peace. And, no, you ''can't'' have a free or fair election or have a military that will actually obey orders all the time.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: If you follow the advice of Popular Stability, you'll have a civil war on your hands, death squads running rampant, and the Army effectively in control. If you follow the advice of National Liberation, you'll have a civil war on your hands, an American embargo that destroys the economy, Chimerica in the arms of a Soviet Bloc that really can't provide much help. Christian Reform's members provide a middle path that will leave death squads running rampant under an unelected dictator...but the nation will be at peace. And, no, you ''can't'' have a free or fair election or have a military that will actually obey orders all the time.

* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: If you run as the candidate of either the Christian Reform or Popular Stability parties, the army will assassinate the civilian election overseer (a priest, naturally) and assume control of the election itself. Of course, the actual popular will becomes irrelevant at that point.

* {{Realpolitik}}: The tug-of-war between US and Soviet influence is a major theme. Even within Chimerica, it's impossible to make everyone happy..

* ThePurge: Elements of the military will do this, if you empower them to. Or if they decide to [[DragonWithAnAgenda empower themselves]] to do it. The only way to prevent this is with a Purge of your own.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: If you follow the advice of Popular Stability, you'll have a civil war on your hands, death squads running rampant, and the Army effectively in control. If you follow the advice of National Liberation, you'll have a civil war on your hands, an American embargo that destroys the economy, Chimerica in the arms of a Soviet Bloc that really can't provide much help. Christian Reform's members provide a middle path that will leave death squads running rampant...but the nation will be at peace. And, no, you ''can't'' have a free or fair election or have a military that will actually obey orders all the time.

A GovernmentProcedural set in the BananaRepublic of Chimerica, which is struggling to get back on its feet after 40 years of dictatorial rule. As Presidente, you must balance the demands coming at you from all sectors of society with Chimerica's vulnerable position as a Third World country in the middle of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.