Paradox

Paradox Interactive is a swedish game developer based in Stockholm that is known for producing historical stratgy computer games. It is also a video game publisher, publishing its own games as well as others through traditional retail channels as well as digital distribution services, such as gamersgate. The lead game programmer is Johnan Andersson.

Paradox Interactive was previously, but is no longer, a division of Paradox Entertainment, owners and developers of properties such as Conan the Barberian.

Each game is marked by the use of standard real-time elements but with an ability to make any and all changes while paused (and while unpaused), which provides realism while remaining true to the traditional format of strategy games. The games also demonstrate a commitment to historical accuracy which results in a highly detailed playing experience.

Each game also has a loosely based set of "Victory Conditions" which defines the game winner as accumulating the most "points" by the closing date of the game. These points are abstracted from meeting certain goals during gameplay. Due to the wide-open nature of the game engine, however, it is easy to ignore these victory conditions. The games are notable not in the sense of winning by a predefined set of conditions (like a traditional board game) but in being an open game engine (sand-box style games) in which the player can define their own victory, or even play without victory in mind. A single game from start to finish represents hundreds of hours of gameplay. It usually takes a week or more to complete, say, the "Grand Campaign" in Europa Universalis III, which runs from 1399-1820. The games all feature shorter scenarios for more focused and shorter game play.

Their games are characteristically complex, with steep learning curves and highly detailed gameplay models. Though they superficially resemble a "conquer the world" game much like Risk, in reality the game models so many aspects of running a nation that conquering the world is, while not impossible, tedious at best. The focus of each game is different, but generally a player must manage the economy, commerce, internal politics, diplomacy, technological development, and military forces of a nation. The careful balance between long-term planning and the ability to react to emergent conditions is what makes these games so complex, but is also part of their appeal.

On the support side, Paradox regularly releases patches to their games long after a game's initial release. While they often only fix small problems or tweak the game initially, some games have required patches shortly after release to make them playable. Later patches may contain large changes to the game and the way the game is played, in response to the demands and requests of fans. For more significant changes Paradox will release supplemental expansion packs and sequel products.

Paradox tries to make games that are open and easy to edit (moddable), from tweaking a saved game to creating an entirely new scenario. To assist modders to figure out how to edit the game on their own, the Paradox forums provide a library of "how to" advice. If modding is not the user's desire, they can download scenarios created by other users, a practice encouraged by Paradox, though Paradox does not endorse these modified game scenarios. Users download and modify games at their own risk