State laws

National laws have a much greater impact than edicts. They take longer to process and represent the current status of the society in terms of the modernity and advancement of the legislation of the nation in which the player’s city is located. National laws have several very important effects on the city.

National laws provide a boost to the city’s brain power production, allowing the player to unlock new inventions faster. They also provide a temporary boost to satisfaction in the respective aspect of civic life, as citizens are pleased to have more rights and freedoms. However, they also increase the demand for the six Wheel of Life services, making it harder to keep citizens happy in the long term.

National laws allow you to determine the kind of society you want to build. The benefit of a monoculture in which everyone is pressured to look, behave, and think the same is that its citizens do not know any better and are easier to satisfy. However, a monoculture requires that you take care in choosing which inventions to unlock, as keeping pace with the rest of the world is challenging. A “progressive” society in which anyone can be whatever they want has its benefits, but a more enlightened population is harder to fool and requires more services to be satisfied. At times it might be politically savvy to go against your own personal beliefs to ensure you get elected.