Crisis in the Kremlin is a strategy and simulation game set during the Perestroika era, with the player governing the Soviet Union through a turbulent historical period. Its central question is political as well as economic: what kind of state will emerge by the end of 1991 and beyond? The game leaves room for competing visions, including democracy, a free market, socialism, communism and dictatorship.
Its documented design puts decisions about governing institutions and national policy at the forefront. Players rule the Council of Ministers and control the State Planning Committee, while choosing whether to reform, repress or otherwise reshape the country. Diplomatic actions and intervention in international affairs extend those decisions beyond domestic administration. This combination makes the game about directing a state toward a chosen future rather than following one fixed political path.
The premise, institutional responsibilities and range of political possibilities together define its strategy experience. Choices can shape what the USSR becomes, from a superpower to a new pillar of democracy, according to the game description.
