Game City

*This article is about the country as a whole. For the capital city which the country is named after, see Game City (city).*

**Game City**, or the **Kingdom of Game City**, is a country in Minecraft under a semi-constitutional monarchy, currently formed by its capital city and namesake, Game City, and the smaller counties that surround it.

The **server** of Game City is available on Java Edition of Minecraft. However, in order to join, since there are a few mods you need to download in order to properly play, you will need to join our Discord server and find out what you need to do.

For those interested in joining Game City, please skip to the HOW TO JOIN section of this page.

## History

### 2013-14. Origins.

Game City was founded in **2013** by Astonviggo, starting out with only a few structures on what is today known as Main Street. These were Viva Bar (the very first building constructed in Game City), The Grange, Astonviggo's own home and the Civil Guard, the very first law enforcement agency in the land.

Seeking opportunity in this hopeful land, more and more people flocked to the then-small settlement of Game City, allowing its size to expand and its economy to grow. With an ever-growing society, Astonviggo and his closest confidants agreed that Game City needed an established system to govern this organized community. They built a Rule Room establishing the basic laws of the land, and the Government Monarchy, Game City's supreme legislative body, was formed. Soon after, the Tribunal of the Gamer Inquisition was formed to sentence both criminals and the unfaithful to death by Execution Chamber.

The government decided that the nation would be a monarchy, and so Astonviggo was crowned King Aston I in a splendid coronation ceremony at the Holy Chapel of Notch (now destroyed, rebuilt as the Cathedral of Game City). And so, the **Kingdom of Game City** was born.

### 2015. The dawn of democracy.

When the Kingdom of Game City was first founded, it was an absolute monarchy, with King Aston having unlimited political power. The city's local administration would be supervised by a local mayor handpicked by the King, and the man chosen for the job happened to be JaimeGamer99, at the time a humble farmer at The Grange.

While Mayor, JaimeGamer99 would attempt to introduce measures to modernize the city and develop more urban areas, but was almost always met with the disapproval of the King. The constant vetos of the King would only motivate the young mayor even more, which would lead him to create a political party to represent the working class of the then small town of Game City. This would come to be known as the Labour Party, a socialist progressive faction which would serve as a pressure group for reform. Provoked by the rise of the Labour Party, the aristocracy would respond by forming the Conservative Party, a rivaling faction defending the King's power and the privileges of the nobility.

One May morning in 2015, the Labourites marched to King Aston's residence demanding urgent change and more representation for the people. Wishing to not anger his citizens, the King came to an agreement with JaimeGamer99 and announced the celebration of elections, in which the citizens of Game City would vote for one of their own to represent them as the second-most powerful person in the Government Monarchy. Later that May of 2015, JaimeGamer99 won and became the first-ever President of the Government, selecting his running mate Canderi12 as his Vice President. From that day forward, Game City would be a semi-constitutional monarchy, with free and fair elections every two years. However, since the King would still have the final say and most of the power, whether it is a true democracy or not has been questioned by the more critical citizens.

### 2016. Redstone is introduced.

Game City grew more and more as new residential areas and businesses, such as the Goldin Bank and the Red Heart Hospital, were introduced to the city. Not only this, but a technological innovation was brought to the server: functioning electricity or redstone was introduced and facilitated to everyone's use.

Not only that, but in summer of 2016, the Royal Palace was built, which would serve as the official residence of the King and his family.

As for politics, feeling pressured by the people's criticism, King Aston I reformed the tribunal of the Inquisition, legalizing the right to criticize the Church; but preserving the death penalty for another four years.

### 2017. The Brick Depression.

In 2017, Game City experienced a period of economic and technical instability. The **Brick Depression**, as the period has come to be known, was a phase during which (because of the complexity of the RBS system and the people's unsatisfaction with it) citizens started using economic alternatives like trading or bartering, which the government didn't support at all. This led to the value of the RBS decreasing massively, and Game City would experience its first period of massive inflation.

Amidst the crisis, with his approval ratings at an all-time low and with little to no confidence from the rest of the government, JaimeGamer99 announced his intention to resign as President of the Government, choosing his Vice President Canderi12 as the socialist candidate for the election scheduled for that year. In these elections, however, Labour suffered a disastrous defeat, with only 39% of the people's votes, compared to the Conservatives' 61%. JaimeGamer99 stepped down as President and the next elections were won by Woodywyatt, of the Conservative Party. Woodywyatt, a strong traditionalist, monarchist and capitalist, insisted on making Game City a rich, hard-working country, ordering the creation of a train station (today's Game City Central Station), the creation of many new businesses and also encouraging tradition by creating new grand monuments and providing more resources and special privileges to the Church.

### 2018. The Erin is introduced.

After the Brick Depression and the general unpopular opinion the public had of the RBS, the Conservative government and the King agreed that Game City needed a new, stronger currency. The **Erin** was declared the new national currency of Game City in early 2018.

### 2019. Steelborough is built.

Since Labour could not put forward a presidential candidate, Woodywyatt ran effectively unopposed in the next elections in 2019, even though many citizens still chose to vote for the socialists by effectively spoiling their ballots, which was a key reason why they pushed on.

On the outskirts of Game City, the small industrial village of Steelborough, built to accommodate the Steel Mill's employees, was inaugurated in summer of 2019. A connection to it via the Game City railway was established.

Later that year, the Government of Game City approved the creation of the National Reserve, the central bank of Game City which would lend money to other, smaller banks like Goldin Bank; and would regulate borrowing by increasing or decreasing the interest rate, which can eventually discourage or encourage inflation.

In August, the Royal Palace suffered a terrible fire after the fireplace in the King's bedroom accidentally leaked and burnt down most of the bedrooms on the top floor. How this accident happened, however, is unknown to the public.

### 2020. The "Constructional Miracle".

In March 2020, the Government of Game City unanimously agreed on demolishing the abandoned and derelict zoo on Justice Street. This move was applauded by the population as a triumphant move against animal cruelty.

King Aston I would receive the assistance of renowned Swedish architect Handduken, who would greatly improve the look of Game City's buildings and give the capital city some much-needed beauty. The Cathedral, for example, would be expanded and reformed massively. In mid-April of 2020, Handduken would become the very first common citizen to set foot in Government House, in order to pitch the cathedral renovation project to the rest of the government ministers. Later on in the year, he would completely reform the Royal Palace.

In April 2020, a debate was held in Parliament on the abolition of the death penalty, with many from both parties agreeing that execution was an antiquated system of punishment that had to be replaced in order to truly progress (even the more traditional conservatives, who had previously undergone an image change under Woodywyatt). Two options were presented: "Yes, the Inquisition should be abolished" or "No, the Inquisition should be preserved". Surprisingly, on the "No" side there was even a very small Labour minority. The "Yes" option won, and the King officially abolished the death penalty, tearing down the huge Execution Chamber on Justice Street, marking the end of the Era of the Inquisition. A monument has since been placed at the location of the old "device" in remembrance of the persecuted.

On the 10th of September, Handduken joined the Labour Party and became its leader by default after the party had been without one for more than a year. His leadership would be characterised by massive ideological shift from the left towards the moderate centre, marking an era which historians would dub "New Labour", which lasted until 2023.

On the 29th of November, after a lengthy debate in Parliament, it was decided that Game City would have a national anthem. The selected anthem was the "Royal Fanfare", which uses the melody of the Promenade of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

### 2021. A new world.

In the early months of the year, the Government Monarchy planned several operations in order to facilitate what King Aston named the **Global Relocation Effort**: the plan to move Game City from its initial superflat world to a bigger world, and with it, all of the preexisting infrastructure.

Summer marked the election season once again, with the 2021 general elections being celebrated in July. Handduken would present himself as the Labour Party's electoral candidate, with Woodywyatt coming back with his Vice President Xep for a third term. The election would be won by Handduken, marking the first Labour victory in four years. Woodywyatt would resign as President after his defeat, but would remain in politics as Mayor of Steelborough.

The first thing the new Labour government did under Handduken was replace the old ID system with a brand new and much more complete passport, with information ranging from the date the player joined to the number of businesses the player owns.

However, soon after Game City would once again suffer economic trouble. More and more Emris gems were being discovered at a rapid pace and entering circulation, causing their value to plummet. The Parliament was called for an emergency meeting in October to find a way to contain the situation, but no agreement was reached. For the following months, players would disobediently destroy or trash many Emris gems in the blind belief that they would increase its value, but this did nothing as more and more gems were being uncovered.

### 2022. Emris gems, empire and parties galore.

The year started off ceremoniously, with Woodywyatt and Handduken being knighted as a Baron and Marquis, respectively, for their political and architectural service to the kingdom. The Labour government also made some progress with its previous pledges: on the 22nd February, taxation was introduced for the first time at an initial rate of 10%.

During the real-world crisis in Ukraine that began in February of 2022, many of Game City's prominent Ukrainian community were unable to join for some time. In tribute to them, a monument to the Ukrainian people and their struggle was built on Main Street.

During the first 3 months of 2022, the emris gem suffered a period of extreme inflation, affecting the strength of the jewellery market significantly. In an attempt to save both the jewellery market and the economy in general from crashing, on the 14th of March, President Handduken wrote an executive order to Goldin Bank "under the presidential powers given by the people" ordering them to destroy half of the Emris gems in the bank's vault "in the name of the King and the people of Game City". Parliament, after voting on the bill, soon approved Handduken's emris gem law, and Goldin Bank was ordered to release half of its gems for inflation control, reducing the total number in circulation from 22 to just 11. The value of the emris gem doubled to 450,000 Erin per jewel. However, Parliament (and, more specifically, the Labour government) received criticism for acting against the will of the people, and earned the frustration of Goldin Bank, who increased the commission bill to "hopefully reimburse our stolen assets". This led to a number of clients leaving Goldin Bank and creating accounts with a new bank in the Financial District: *Hemphschere & Company*.

On the 12th May, the Western Commercial Company ceased to exist, and after the Treaty of Port Triumphos, ownership of the Cane Islands was transferred to the Kingdom of Game City. The new Crown Dependency of the Cane Islands became, in effect, the Kingdom's first overseas colony. They would operate under a different system to the counties on the continent, not answering to the President or to Parliament — only to the King, represented by a regional governor known as the Lord Harbourmaster.

2022 marked the rise to prominence of two new political parties, finally breaking the two-party system: the radical centrist and environmentalist For a Better World, led by Ebo; and the far-left Communist Party of Game City, led by LaylaFire22. These two would be officially inscribed into the presidential race for the next elections and would begin preparing pledges and propaganda to attract support.

On the 10th October, Parliament approved the Constitution of Game City, after which it received the royal assent of King Aston I and entered legality.

That very month, a group of players who had illegally entered the Kingdom without passports—mostly of Italian origin—illicitly built up an area in the capital city for them to live, a slum that would come to be known as Capuana. The Labour government made no attempt to force them out or demolish their illegal construction, and Capuana has since been recognised as another district of the capital.

### 2023. Instability and turmoil.

The Kingdom's tenth year began dramatically with a governmental crisis that had been brewing since the Christmas season, a crisis linked to the inactivity of both the President and Vice President. Their absence reached such an extent that it was nearly impossible for the Government to enforce laws without the interference of the King. This led to both Parliament and the Supreme Court losing faith in the presidency and considering taking action. The crisis reached its highest point on the 5th January with the resignation of Vice President ToastIsBestFrozen and a rare televised speech by the King in which he announced that he would assume temporary executive control—and therefore, the powers of the (also absent) President—and that a snap election would take place after the 15th February. With King Aston temporarily taking full control of the executive branch during this brief period, Handduken would remain President *de jure* or in name only, and was given until the 15th to both pick a new Vice President and confirm that he would indeed run again. Handduken would later confirm that he would not participate, passing the candidacy to EnderShrimp.

The emergency election took place in March, the first with more than two candidates. The candidates for President were EnderShrimp from the Labour Party, Xep from the Conservative Party, Ebo from For a Better World, LaylaFire22 from the Communist Party and HeyItIsNicholas from the Free Crafters Party. The election was initially a tie between For a Better World and the Free Crafters, but the other presidential candidates gave Ebo a collective confidence vote, offering him an extra 2% and giving him the presidency. It marked the first time that neither the blues nor the reds won, ending the two-party system. To form a majority in Parliament, Ebo pacted with the Free Crafters to form a centrist coalition, while the Conservatives would lead the Opposition and Labour was relegated to a minor party (their worst-ever result in an election). With a new government, Aston I gave the executive power back to the President, restoring normality. However, the day after the results were published, King Aston suffered a near-fatal accident at the beach which briefly hospitalised him and paused the Kingdom for the entire month of April. Ebo's inauguration was put on hold while the King recovered at his holiday residence of Heretiae House. More than a month would pass until Ebo was finally sworn in on the 11th May.

Ebo's first acts as President were a series of constitutional and administrative reforms. One of the first of these was the demolition of the outdated Rule Room in June, which was no longer deemed necessary, and the Government built a public consultation building for the citizens, which would also house the office of the brand new Secretary of State. Ebo would also plan a vast road reform project meant to improve the capital's streets and build a proper complex road network, and revived Handduken's long-abandoned metro project.

In June, all projects were put on hold when a massive pillager invasion ravaged the capital city. Thousands upon thousands of Sylvvean invaders spilled blood across the streets of Game City. Sylvves had long been claimed by Game City as a county, though only on paper, and didn't actually control it yet. Possibly in an act of revenge for using their people in slave labour in the Cane Islands, the Sylvveans attacked the heart of the realm. With no permanent army, the King called for mandatory conscription in order to help the police fight back. After several in-game days of tanks patrolling the streets, arrows and crossbow bolts littering every road and public buildings being used as barracks, the invasion was successfully crushed. It led to a massive amount of damage, and in response, the Government of Game City organised a diplomatic mission to Sylvves in order to come to terms and annex it peacefully and gradually.

On the 30th July, Game City officially moved from Bedrock Edition to Java Edition.

It was also this year that television arrived in Game City, with the media company Telebox, under the private ownership of Seyade, having a monopoly over the kingdom's screens. Telebox programs proved to be a total success with the public.

### 2024.

On the 16th January, Telebox's flagship news program Infospace spread the claim of King Aston I receiving 20 million Erin from an Arabic prince and depositing it into a Swiss bank account. Whether the story was true or not, newspapers like *The Worker's Journal* started spreading it like wildfire, damaging the King's public image.

When King Aston took a break from managing the server, due to the rebellion against the Kingdom by the Sylvvean people the previous year, an international trade dispute occurred. Many financial entities began to criticise Game City for supposed immoral work conditions imposed on Sylvvean citizens. Due to this, the Government began printing Erin banknotes at an alarming rate, causing a disastrous case of hyperinflation.

## Geography

The Kingdom of Game City is divided into three counties: Game City County (the capital of the kingdom), Steelborough County and Sylvves County. While the first of these is only and entirely the capital city, Steelborough and Sylvves County contain a few sparsely populated villages subordinated to the main county towns. The Kingdom also possesses an overseas colony: the Crown Dependency of the Cane Islands.

When it comes to climate, the Kingdom of Game City has various, from the coastal forests of the capital city and the windswept hills of Steelborough County, to the jungles of Sylvves and the tropical Cane Islands.

## Economy

The currency of Game City is the **Erin**.

Ever since the collapse of the RBS economy, it was officially declared that the new currency would be seen in the form of the Erin, a fiat-mimicking form of currency. Due to the lack of secondary currencies outside of the Erin, inflation is currently considered impossible, though a limited print was issued to the Mint and set in circulation, to prevent any form of deterioration in value; at least as seen from the public eye.

## Culture

Game City has various traditions that the community have adopted over the years.

* In the first session of the New Year, the country celebrates the **State Opening of Parliament**, a ceremony in which King Aston I officially "opens" the Government Monarchy for the new year. The date of this occasion can vary from January to even early February (depending on the availability of all G.M. members). It can occur in-game or via the Kingdom's official Discord server.
* The 7th of February is the **King's Birthday**. It is a bank holiday, but only recently has it become a public celebration. Previously, it had been a celebration restricted to the nobility and Government that was celebrated in the Royal Palace, but the King changed this in 2023.
* The 7th of May is known as **National Greetings Day**, in which people are expected to say "hello" at least three times on said day to their nearest neighbours.
* The 18th of May is **Saint Jeb's Day** (the birthday of Jeb, the lead designer of *Minecraft* alongside Notch). It's not a very notable holiday and nowhere near as huge as Notch Day, but you would surely see the most devout followers of the Church attending mass in the Cathedral on this day.
* The 1st of June is the **Day of Notch** (Notch's birthday), the most important religious festivity of the Church of Notch, usually celebrated with an outside banquet near the Cathedral and a swim in the river (to wash away badness from the soul).
* **National Day** is on the 22nd of June, the day that Game City was founded.
* **Election season** takes place every two years throughout the month of July, with the results being announced the morning of the 1st of August.
* **Constitution Day**, the 10th of October, has been celebrated since 2022, commemorating the ratification and approval of Game City's book of laws. It is a bank holiday—with the jewellery market taking the day off too—though no other specific forms of celebration occur.
* **Christmas**, also known as **Wintry Day** in some regions of the kingdom, is an extremely important festivity to the citizens. The King always makes a special broadcast on the 25th of December giving a speech about the events and successes of the past year.

## Defence

For a full explanation of each policing organization in the server, see Law Enforcement Hierarchy.

## Politics

Game City is, officially, a unitary state under a semi-constitutional monarchy, with King Aston I serving as head of state and an elected President of the Government as head of the executive branch. According to the Constitution, the monarch has the power to approve and veto all laws debated in Parliament, to choose every other member of the Government Monarchy except the President and Vice President, to dissolve Parliament, to call for sudden general elections, he is immune from any legal charges or accusations and is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces.

The political power in Game City is separated into three branches: the legislative power is held by Parliament, the executive power is held by the Government Monarchy, and the judicial power is held by the Supreme Court.

The Constitution is the supreme legal document in the land, containing all the fundamental laws, rights and rules of the Kingdom. The document, although mostly democratic in nature, contains points that certainly highlight the overarching power and final say of the King.

Although members of the government tend to insist that Game City is a democratic country, many do not define Game City as a democracy, but rather as a semi-representative state. This is because the only politician in the government who is actually elected by the citizens is the President (and the Vice President is simply the President's running-mate), while the rest are all appointed by the King. In fact, Game City still possesses many absolutist elements, with the King having almost absolute power, being limited only in certain bureaucratic and administrative sectors in the Government Monarchy. Therefore, the correct term for Game City's regime is a **semi-constitutional monarchy**.

To see how the political system truly works in the Kingdom, see **The Government.**

## **HOW TO JOIN**

Those who are interested in joining Game City can send a direct message via Instagram to @gamecitykingdom, when they will soon receive a link to the Kingdom's official Discord server, where they will meet the citizens and Government officials and will be informed of the date of the next session.

Once in Game City for the first time, the player will have to visit the Citizen Attention Office on Main Street and get a passport. From that moment on, the player will officially be a citizen of the Kingdom of Game City!