In Nations you are the ruler of your very own… Nation. A strong, militarized superpower perhaps? Or a diplomatic trader of sought-after goods and resources? The choice is yours, as they usually say.
The twist
What makes Nations unique among the plethora of internet based entertainment/fun stuff is the way every nation is strongly dependent on each other. What I’m trying to say is that you can get by on your own. Barely. If you really want to grow in power and fame you have to produce, trade, and even dabble in warfare.
Why is it so? When you first create your nation, let’s call it… Norway, the nation is dealt a number of common, not so common, and rare natural resources. This is semi-random based on the type of continent and climate you founded your proud nation on (ex: desert, temperate, tropical). Some of these resources are visible right away, like rivers, lakes, forests and mountains, while some of them are hidden, like metals, oil, coal and so on.
These natural resources are required to produce the six “processed resources”: food, power, metals, fuel, consumer goods and uranium, which is a crucial necessity for every soon-to-be world rulers.
In a world of Nations
Let me give you an example: Norway, from the previous example, was founded by me, Stian, on the continent of Zaheria. The climate of Zaheria is rather dry and deserty, which makes it ideal for fuel production because of the high probability of oil clusters. Food on the other hand is rather sparse. Svealand, the nation of my dear friend is situated on Amarino however, and because of the tropical climate of Amarino food is plentiful. Trading seems like a good idea.
Don’t worry, though. You don’t HAVE to communicate with the other players to survive and trade. Trading in Nations works like a fancy auction market where goods and resources are bought and sold without the need for intricate deals and dependencies.