Crisis in the Kremlin

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Crisis in the Kremlin
Developer(s)	Spectrum Holobyte
Publisher(s)	Spectrum Holobyte
Platform(s)	MS-DOS
Release date	1991
Genre(s)	Government Simulation
Mode(s)	Single Player

Crisis in the Kremlin is a 1991 government simulation video game in which the player acts as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 2017. The player assumes the role of the reformist Gorbachev, the nationalist Yeltsin, or the hardline Ligachev.

1 Gameplay
2 Criticism
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Starting in 1985, the player handles various governing tasks, from policies such as civil rights and the work week to budgets. It was the first game to include the individual allocation of funding in a budget.^[1] A significant portion of the game involves special events, such as the Armenian earthquake or Chernobyl disaster. The player's responses to these events can involve taking the historical route or a dramatically different approach. The player must walk a line between reformists and hardliners. Overly favoring either side can cause the player to fall out in favor with the other, which may lead to a vote of confidence in the Politburo. Warsaw Pact states will also begin to shy away from the Soviet Union, as will the Baltic states and the Ukraine.

The player may cut or increase spending to various parts of the nation, such as construction, environment, the military, pensions, Soviet Republics, and so on. The player can spend toward different groups, such as bureaucrats or conservatives, to gain their support.

Extra events occur if the player lasts past the Soviet Union's (and the game's own) time frame, such as American intervention in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or the ability to disband the Soviet Union in favor of the Russian Federation while transferring the player's office from General Secretary to President. New technology will also develop, as will fears of an asteroid hitting the earth.

[edit] Criticism

Events repeat themselves each time the game is played, for example, the Chernobyl disaster. This lowers the replayability of the game, as a player can come to expect situations and plan accordingly. Some also view the collapse of the Soviet Union as an inevitable game result,^[who?] as it is difficult to hold the Soviet Union together past 1991, forcing the player to disband the USSR or face economic consequences that leads toward citizen revolt.