Mexico 1920-1940: Heirs of the RevolutionMexico 1920-1940: Heirs of the Revolution

The history that was, and the ones that might have happened

Zapata fell at Chinameca. Obregón, at La Bombilla. Vasconcelos lost in 1929. Villa never became president.

That's how it went. Here, it can go a different way.

Heirs of the Revolution is a turn-based narrative political simulator. You govern Mexico from the presidency, one quarter per turn, from 1920 to 1940. Presidents change; the chair remains. If you wish, start earlier, at Chinameca.

It is built on history: the de la Huerta rebellion, the Cristero War, the Maximato, the Great Depression, the oil expropriation. But history can be bent:

• Zapata survives and reaches the presidency.

• Obregón survives and entrenches himself in power.

• Vasconcelos wins in 1929: from educational idealism to a Hispanist restoration.

• Villa becomes president.

• A radical Cárdenas collectivizes and draws closer to Moscow.

75 endings

The country can end up as "The Presidency of March 18", "The Republic of the Pueblos", "Early Democracy", "The Republic of the Spirit", "All State, No Party" or "The Occupation". Each ending is labeled historical, plausible or far-fetched. At the close comes a balance sheet, area by area: capital, labor, schooling, subsoil, the army…

• Cabinet and Congress: appoint secretaries (no quarter closes with an empty ministry) and lobby among five congressional blocs.

• Economy: treasury, agriculture, industry, infrastructure and investor confidence.

• Territory: eight regions; one that falls into rebel hands must be retaken or negotiated back.

• War: front by front; you only learn how far your troops will obey once they fight.

• Culture and press: muralism, a literacy crusade, and newspapers of every leaning that headline your decisions.

• Factions: the Army, agrarians, workers, the Church and business.

• The United States: a constant tension that can escalate into armed intervention.