2008.POLITICAL SIMULATOR is a computer game that explores possible implications of political changes in Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro after the local elections in 2004. The game features three different scenarios, which are based on similar political accidents that already had been seen in Serbia and Voivodina during 1990s, with direct implications to recent political events.

September 2004 in Serbia and its north part - Voivodina was marked by parliamentary and local political elections. After ten years of democratic oriented government in Novi Sad, which is the capital of Voivodina province and the second biggest city in Serbia and Montenegro, recent elections won extreme right-winged political party known as Radical Party and formed very regressive city government together with representatives of few more conservative right parties. This specific province is recognized as a representative sample of the multicultural environment, where national minorities, including Hungarian communities, Croats, Slovaks, Romanians, Roma, Albanians, Muslims, etc. are 45% of the whole population. Atmosphere of cultural diversity was endangered during wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s. With the massive migration of mostly Serbian refugees from Croatia and Bosnia political, demographic and cultural climate has changed. The number of people living in Novi Sad now is almost doubled and it increased from 250.000 to 400.000 inhabitants during the 1990s. Simultaneously, notion of tolerance and respect towards other ethnic, national and religious groups was extremely decreased, which affected growing number of ethnic and political conflicts. In Serbia, in the last six months, it was recorded more racist and nationalist assaults than in the last five years. In the first six months of 2004 official records count 44 assaults on ethnic base, 13 fights and 17 assaults on Roma people.

Number of incidents increased, and actors of these violent actions are mostly young people, grown up in isolation, war environment and in the time of social insecurity. Important thing in this context is the fact that 70% of student population in Serbia and Montenegro never left the country, meaning that they never traveled abroad. Verbal violence, suspiciousness and mistrust, national ghettoization - all sustain the atmosphere of awkwardness and intolerance in multiethnic Voivodina and city of Novi Sad.

2008.POLITICAL SIMULATOR is represented through three different situations that are based on possible political conflicts, but then sarcastically and critically constructed and turned into the "worst case scenario". It “depicts” the situation in Novi Sad after 4 years long governing of right wing parties. First level of the game is based on imagined event of nationalistic accident in village near by Novi Sad known by Hungarian majority, where one Serbian person was attacked. This is an introductory story of the first game level, which is taking place in the main city square, in the front of the biggest Catholic Church where Serbian people are gathering to protest against this violent act. The "mission" of the game is to "stimulate" people in the street to join the protest. As bigger critical mass is becoming, the Catholic Church gets more and more into the flame... The narrative of the first game level is referring to the religious and national conflicts in Kosovo and Serbia in the last year, when many Serbian churches were burnt down in Kosovo and the other way around, when the biggest Muslim mosque in Belgrade was also set on fire as a reaction to the events on Kosovo.

The second level of the game represents the way how extreme right governments (at least they would like to) deal with groups of left oriented, independent activists who are opposing the government's political actions and decisions. In the intro of this game level stands that "within the cause of preserving government's integrity, it is necessary to act with all methods available..." Therefore, this game level is taking the player into the military helicopter where, from the gun sight, player should recognize activists from ordinary people and exterminate them. The action is taking place at the one of the main city boulevards...

"Certain citizens have more rights then the others, thanks to their nationality" is the beginning sentence of the third game level that deals with problem of ghettoization, but again, in very critical and exaggerated way. Third level is taking place on the border between two parts of the city. The one inhabited with Hungarian majority is being turned in the ghetto. The "mission" of the game is to "collect" the few members of Hungarian minority that are still left in the "right" part of the city and bring them into the ghetto. Similarity with real events and connection with historical examples of ghettoization is done on purpose.

The 2008.POLITICAL SIMULATOR game is overwhelmed with violence, expression of nationalism and different forms of genocide. The simulator compiler and idea maker Vladan Joler, artist and activist from Novi Sad, addressed this specific political climate without intention to insult representatives of any political or religious community.

2008.POLITICAL SIMULATOR can be downloaded at http://www.joler.org/2008/2008.htm