1. Executive Summary & Pitch

Why this game. Strategy games such as Civilization let one person be a nation and swap governments like gear. Harimu flips the perspective: the system is fixed and you experience it from below, together with hundreds or thousands of other citizens. The fun comes from the differences – the freedom and chaos of a market democracy versus the security and constraint of a planned commune, the intrigue of a royal court versus the duties of a sanctum – and from the collective human politics that push AI rulers: elections, petitions, strikes, protests, quotas, piety, share votes and rebellions. Why AI leaders (v0.7): no player can abuse power over other players, no nation stalls because its leader logged off, small populations still get a living government, and every ruler stays in character – while human citizens remain the only actors whose collective choices can move it.

What it is.

• A persistent online world that runs on real-world time with 12× compression (1 real month = 1 game year; a 4-year democratic term lasts 4 real months). Shards are never wiped or reset; only citizens age, and heirs carry on.
• One account, one nation, forever. Citizenship is chosen at enrollment; after one free change allowed within the first 48 real hours (and only before any political action), it is permanent. A heavily restricted Exile & Asylum mechanic is planned for after launch (Sections 5.2 and 16.2).
• Ten immutable political–economic systems, presented as stylized simulations: liberal democracy with market capitalism; a single-party socialist state with a socialist-oriented market economy; a party-state with state capitalism and special economic zones; full communism with a leader for life and a planned economy; an absolute monarchy; a theocracy; a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary government; a military junta; a federal direct democracy with a welfare economy; and a mercantile oligarchy where political votes follow charter shares.
• AI-run leadership, citizen-driven politics (v0.7): every office is held by an AI leader persona with traits, an ideology, memory, goals and a stated platform, deciding within a deterministic game-legal action set. Citizens move them through their system’s channels – elections between AI candidates, coalition politics among AI parties, binding referendums, quota and loyalty signals, piety, share votes, and in Aurelle and Varkand rebellion behind an AI rival claimant. Party congresses, royal successions, clerical councils, junta rotations, coups and purges still happen – among AI personas, under citizen pressure.
• AI citizens (v0.7): visibly labeled AI citizen agents fill each nation’s population, labor, markets, culture and polls, so a nation feels alive with few humans; a few LLM-backed Notables can be talked to. Humans always outweigh them (Section 11.9).
• A shared, finite tile world where nations expand by buying unclaimed squares, founding cities, signing cession treaties or going to war – with strong protections for offline players and newcomers.
• Citizen-level daily loops (15–45 minutes a day [ASSUMPTION]) that feel different in every nation: jobs, markets or rations, cosmetics or uniforms, free press or state media, migration rights or permits.

What it is not. It is not a political argument or a ranking of real countries. Each system is a game-design abstraction inspired by the broad structure of real-world models, built so that every nation offers real advantages and real costs. No real country, party, leader, flag, religion or ethnic group is depicted; all six faiths in the game are invented (Section 14). The project’s original inspirations were Civilization and the culturally distinct nations of Avatar: The Last Airbender; since v0.3 the game has no elemental theme, and no names, characters, symbols, powers or story elements from either franchise are used (Section 1.4).

1.1 Nation roster at a glance

1.2 Structure decision: ten nations, one system each

Patrick’s original brief offered two shapes: four elemental cultures crossed with government types, or six to seven nations. v0.1 recommended six nations. On October 12, 2026 Patrick decided to launch with ten nations. The structure is one fixed government, one fixed economy, one currency regime and one official religious stance per nation (v0.3 replaced the element with currency and added religion), with four nations added in v0.2 to maximize distinct citizen experiences and distinct political-transition mechanics.

• Each system keeps a single, readable identity. A citizen should be able to say “I’m Korundi” or “I’m Veldwoodish” and everyone knows what that means – the system, the money in their pocket, the faith (or enforced lack of one) and the look are one package.
• Range of real-world-style systems. The ten now span the main families of government: three democracies that differ in how the people rule (presidential, parliamentary with a ceremonial crown, direct/federal); three party-states that differ in economy (socialist market, state capitalism, full planning); two crowns-and-canon systems (absolute monarchy, theocracy); and two power-bloc systems where force or money is the franchise (military junta, merchant oligarchy).
• Currency and religion make the system tangible. Money shows the economic system every time a citizen is paid, shops or travels (a ration coupon, a debased coin, a dividend); official religious stance shows how much of a citizen’s inner life the state claims (Sections 12.3 and 14).
• Aesthetic is derived from government, culture, climate/geography, currency and religion – not from real ethnicities (Section 24).
• Names kept (decided v0.4): no nation or capital needed renaming for the element removal. Kindle reads as “to spark” ambition, Hoarvale and Veldwood describe frost valleys and forests, Fulmara its storm coast, Steamgate a geothermal industrial port – all geography or culture, not an element system. Names change only if a trademark issue becomes concrete; Kindle is the likely rename candidate (proximity to Amazon’s Kindle brand), so 2–3 fallback names are prepared during pre-production (Appendix A).
• Scalable: MVP still ships three contrasting nations; the other seven slot into reserved regions of the map in two waves without restructuring (Sections 27–28).

1.2.1 Why these four new nations

Seven candidate systems were assessed against two tests: (1) does a citizen’s day feel different from all six existing nations, and (2) does the nation add a new way for power to change hands? The four chosen each add a transition mechanic no other nation has.

1.2.2 Transition coverage across the ten

1.3 Title decision and earlier candidates

Quick web searches were run on October 12, 2026 to spot obvious conflicts. These are not legal clearance; a formal USPTO/EUIPO, Steam, app-store and domain search by counsel is required before announcing any name. Decision (v0.5): the title is Harimu, which is also the in-world name of the planet; Body Politic (v0.4 working title) is rejected.

1.4 IP and trademark risk: inspirations, not derivations

The project’s original inspirations were Civilization (nations, governments, tiles) and the culturally distinct nations of Avatar: The Last Airbender (owned by Paramount/Nickelodeon; an officially licensed 4X strategy game, Avatar: Realms Collide, already exists, so the owner is active in this genre). Since v0.3 the game has no elemental theme, which removes most of the earlier proximity to that franchise. The remaining rules, to be confirmed by an IP attorney [VERIFY]: