Recollections from a Country Where Freedom was Simulated

Abstract

The creation and use of simulation and gaming in the former USSR, unlike of countries in the free world, was hampered and gamers had to struggle against deception and lethargy, which were endemic to the Communist party-state system. Under these unfavorable conditions, gaming developed with a sharp break in its acceptability before and after the mid-i 980s. New gaming movement problems have arisen since the overthrow of totalitarianism and the splitting of the Soviet empire into numerous republics. Former Communist-bloc scientists need help to create or adapt for CIS business games, which simulate the modern market-based economy and thereby improve the implementation of the country's complicated economic reforms. Also needed are games which help to conserve the environment and develop the human personality.