Civic MandateWrite to me
Civic Mandate is made by one developer in Estonia. Every email reaches me directly, so bug reports, ideas, and plain old opinions all help shape the next update.
Tap a button to open your mail app with a ready-made subject and a few prompts:
If the buttons don’t open anything, copy the address above and use one of these subject lines:
- Civic Mandate: Bug report
- Civic Mandate: Feature idea
- Civic Mandate: Feedback
- Civic Mandate: Purchase or restore
There is no account to look up, so for bugs it helps to include your iPhone or iPad model, the iOS version, whether you play the App Store or TestFlight version, and the country and month you were on. Screenshots or a screen recording are very welcome.
Getting started
- What is Civic Mandate? An offline strategy game about leading one of 33 real countries. Set taxes and spending, pass policies, change laws, appoint a cabinet, survive parliament and crises, and win the next election.
- Do I need an account or internet? No account, ever. The campaign runs and saves on your device, so you can play on a plane. A connection is only needed to buy, restore, or see store prices.
How to play
- Pick a country. Estonia, Japan, and the United States are free to start. Each one inherits real-world strengths, debts, and political divisions.
- Read the Cabinet tab. It is your desk: approval, the economy at a glance, urgent issues, and what your ministers want.
- Shape the budget. In Budget, adjust taxes and spending. The pie chart switches between revenue and spending; tap a slice to see it on its own.
- Pass policies and change laws. In Policies, enact programmes and set how strong they are, or switch to Laws to move the country’s standing rules.
- Watch the politics. Politics shows parliament and the voter blocs. Each bloc has its own approval of you; keep enough of them on side.
- Tap End Month. Time moves a month at a time. Events, crises, and the economy react to what you did.
- Win the election. At the end of the term the country votes. Win, and you can carry the presidency into another term.
Tips for your first term. Do not fix everything in the first month. Deficits and unpopular laws add up slowly, and so do good decisions. Check which voter blocs you rely on before a big change, and leave yourself room before election season. Profile can replay the guided tour at any time.
Policies and laws
What is the difference between a policy and a law?
Policies are programmes you launch, such as a new benefit or an infrastructure plan. They have a strength setting, a running cost, and supporters and opponents.
Laws are the country’s standing rules, such as voting age, drug policy, or the death penalty. Every law starts at the setting the country really has today, which has no extra effect. Moving a law spends political capital, and its effects on the economy, society, and voter blocs build up month by month.
Are the laws real?
Yes, as closely as a game allows. Each of the 33 countries has its own law book, 546 laws in all, and each law shows the public source it was based on. Tap the source to open it in Safari. Some details are simplified, and federal countries use the national rule. If you spot something wrong, please tell me.
Do laws cost money?
No. Every law is free in every country you can play. The Advanced policies pack only adds policies.
Why can’t I change a law again right away?
After a change, a law cools down until the next month. Some laws, such as tax rates, are set on the Budget tab instead, and the law screen links you there.
Countries and packs
What is free? A full first term in Estonia, Japan, or the United States, with every law and every policy outside the Advanced policies pack. There are no ads. After the term ends, you can start a new first term in any of those three as often as you like.
Everything else is optional, one-time, and sold by Apple. There are no subscriptions.
Complete edition
Both packs: every one of the 33 countries and every policy.
Countries pack
Play every country, not only Estonia, Japan, and the United States.
Advanced policies pack
23 advanced policies in defense, the digital state, culture and sport, immigration, and mega projects, in every country you play.
Any purchase also lets you continue your presidency into the next term. The price shown in the game comes straight from the App Store for your country and currency.
What happens to pack policies if I get a refund?
Policies you already enacted from the Advanced policies pack stay in force. Only new enactments need the pack.
Are there ads?
No. Civic Mandate shows no ads and contains no advertising SDK, and the game does not ask you to allow tracking.
Can I get a refund?
Apple handles all payments, so refunds are requested from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. I can’t see or change your payment. If a purchase didn’t work as expected, please email me as well so I can fix the cause.
Restoring purchases
Purchases belong to your Apple ID, so they come back on a new device or after reinstalling.
- Make sure the device is signed in to the same Apple ID that made the purchase (Settings → your name → Media & Purchases).
- Open Civic Mandate and go to Profile, or open the edition sheet.
- Tap Restore purchases and wait a few seconds for the App Store to answer.
If you see “No previous purchases were found on this Apple ID”, the purchase was probably made on another Apple ID. Still stuck? Email me with roughly when you bought it.
Saves, progress, and devices
Where is my game saved?
On your device only. The game saves automatically as you play. There is no cloud save in this version.
Can I move my campaign to another iPhone or iPad?
Not directly. Purchases move with your Apple ID, but the campaign stays on the device where you played it. An iPhone backup or Quick Start transfer to a new phone normally brings app data along.
How do I start over?
Start a new game from the home screen, or reset the save in Profile under Danger zone. A reset clears the current campaign and keeps your settings, such as language.
I deleted the app and my campaign is gone.
Deleting the app deletes its on-device save, and there is no server copy, so it can’t be recovered. Your purchases can always be restored.
Languages, sound, and reminders
Which languages are available?
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese, including every law. On first launch the game suggests your device language, and you can change it any time in Profile.
How do I turn off music, sound, or haptics?
Each has a switch in Profile. Music starts off. The Ring/Silent switch also mutes music and effects.
What are the reminders, and how do I stop them?
If you allow notifications, the game can send at most one local reminder a day, never between 22:00 and 08:00, and it waits longer if you leave them unread. There are no push notifications from a server. Turn reminders off in Profile, or in iOS Settings → Civic Mandate → Notifications.
Troubleshooting
A purchase didn’t unlock.
Tap Restore purchases in Profile on the same Apple ID that paid, and check that the device is online. If it still doesn’t unlock, email me with the approximate time of purchase. Apple keeps the receipt, so I can’t look it up myself, but I can help work out what went wrong.
Prices say “Price appears when the store is ready”.
The game is waiting for the App Store. Check your connection, wait a moment, and reopen the edition sheet. Screen Time purchase restrictions can also block it.
The game froze, crashed, or looks wrong.
- Close the app fully (swipe it away in the app switcher) and open it again. Your progress is saved.
- Update to the latest version from the App Store.
- Restart the device.
If it keeps happening, please send a bug report with what you tapped just before. A screen recording is ideal.
Text is cut off or overlaps.
Very large text sizes can squeeze some screens. Tell me which screen, language, and text size, plus a screenshot, and I’ll fix it.
I’m not getting reminders.
Check that reminders are on in Profile and that notifications are allowed in iOS Settings → Civic Mandate. Focus modes can hold them back.
TestFlight
I’m a TestFlight tester. What is different?
- TestFlight builds are previews. They can contain unfinished features and bugs, and they expire after 90 days.
- Purchases in TestFlight use Apple’s test environment. You are not charged, and they do not carry over to the App Store version.
- To send feedback, take a screenshot while playing and tap Share Beta Feedback, or use the TestFlight app. Email works too.
Will my TestFlight progress carry over?
Usually yes on the same device, because both versions use the same on-device save. Sometimes a test build changes the save format, so don’t rely on it.
Privacy
Civic Mandate has no account, no ads, and no advertising or analytics SDK. The app does not ask to track you, and your campaign stays on your device. The full details are in the privacy policy.
Still need help?
Write to me any time at rene.venturini@icloud.com. I read everything that comes in, and player ideas really do end up in the game.