In Hidden Agenda, you are the new president of Chimerica (a fictive country in Central America). You have been chosen after the citizens overthrew the evil dictator Farsante. The game can be considered good educational material.
In the beginning, you have to face a group of journalists asking you what will be your main goals as a new president. You will have to choose wisely as you will be judged by History later. Chimerica is in a terrible situation, infant mortality is terribly high and a lot of people are living in poverty. This is where you come in!
First of all you appoint ministries, which is harder than it looks! Will you be a leftist president having ministries full of people from National Liberation, or will you rather pursue radical right policies? It’s all up to you. Remember, you can try to help people, but you can also be as cruel as dictator Farsante was! You also have to go around and meet people, you can be a death squad leader or a union leader, you will create your own policies, and every time you will find friends and enemies… Your goal is to keep the presidency as long as possible. Keep an eye on your enemies if they really hate you, they can start a “Coup d’Etat”!
As if all this wouldn’t be enough, USA is trying all the time to force you to do what he wants. So you have to be careful as they don’t care to help very much and if you defy him, he can be really a terrible opponent.
Ministers as well, will try all the time to do whatever they like, and you have to be careful about what they say. This is really a high game of politics and few words can easily turn the whole situation 180 degrees. You can check the impacts of your decisions by checking the statistics and several newspapers.
This may sound like a very difficult game, but it is fun to play and quite enjoyable though it may be hard in the beginning… After playing the game for a few times you’ll get into it.