life

I’ve decided to start a new little mini-series here where I talk about games that I really love and try to explain why they work for me and (maybe) give some attention to titles that I think deserve more love.

One of these is definitely Suzerain which is by no means unknown but, I feel, is probably more niche. So what is this game and why do I love it?

Suzerain is a 2020 political simulator from German publisher Torpor Games, available on Nintendo Switch, Mac, Android, iOS and Windows. You play Anton Rayne, the fourth president of the fictional nation of Sordland in the equally fictional continent of Merkopa. After a choose-your-own-way recounting of your early life which functions as a character creation session you get to choose Anton’s socio-economic and political background. The game takes you from his election to president to the end of his first term, with you facing various political crises and scandals while you try to shape the country to your own political ideology.

Suzerain teaches you very, very quickly that politics is hard, messy and often deeply morally compromised. On my first play through I just tried to rule according to my conscience, funding health and education, avoiding military conflicts, pouring money into welfare, trying to reform the constitution and advancing the rights of women and ethnic minorities.

President Rayne’s first term ended with him strapped into an electric chair and the bastards didn’t even wet the sponge.

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Two weeks, 20,000 kilometres, 4 countries. There are trips and there are TRIPS and my contribution to the family collection of fridge magnets has been robust and muscular.

Late in February I took part in the Whole Wide World book tour organised by Children’s Books Ireland and Laureate na n-Óg Patricia Forde to visit schools across Northern Ireland. And once that was over, I immediately began a ten day book tour of North America. Why did I agree to do those two things so close together?

Anyway, horrendous “I’m pretty sure the devil is hiding in the wallpaper” level jet lag not withstanding, this was an absolutely incredible journey.

For starters, I finally got to meet Dan Santat who, despite the fact that we made a bestselling book together, had never actually been in the same room before. It’s always a little risky to meet someone for the first time and then spend almost a fortnight in close proximity but, as we explained to many schoolchildren, it’s really the only way to make friends in your forties. Seriously though, Dan is absolute gem of a human being and it was wonderful to have him as a guide through his amazing, often bewildering country.

We started in Chicago, headed to Austin and then San Antonio, then up to Colorado, over to Seattle, down to San Juan California and then up to Vancouver visiting a total of 16 schools and bookstores.

We actually got to meet the Cat in the Hat. Total prick.

Everywhere we went I was stunned by the generosity and the enthusiasm and the gosh-darned decency of everyone that we met.

I will treasure this 3D printed Jeff for the rest of my days.

This trip taught, or re-taught me that kids are kids the world over. They have the same hunger for knowledge, the same wonderfully mad sense of humour, the same mixture of innocence and great wisdom. Meeting these children, and the librarians and the teachers who work themselves to the bone on their behalf because they love them and understand how important they are has made me more optimistic than I have been for a while.

Naive of me to think, perhaps, but I think y’all are going to be alright.