Is States of Power Worth It?
Review data pulled:
Overwhelmingly framed by its own players as “Hearts of Iron 4, simplified” — a grand strategy game that starts fast, runs on almost anything, and finishes in one sitting. The complaints are consistent and structural rather than technical: there is no peace-conference system, population does not regenerate, and the sandbox gives you very little direction.
What players praise
- Gets you onto the map and making decisions within minutes — repeatedly cited by players coming from HOI4
- Runs on very low-end hardware (minimum spec is an i3 with integrated graphics)
- Built-in Scenario Editor with a public Scenario Browser — players are already rebuilding total-conversion mods in it
- A full match fits in one session, single-player or multiplayer
What players complain about
- No peace conference — several players report you must fully occupy a country to take it
- No population regeneration, called out as the single biggest issue in one detailed negative review
- Alert pop-ups interrupt at pivotal moments
- Defeated units retreat rather than being destroyed, so beaten enemies can circle back into your territory
- Sandbox with little built-in direction — one negative review calls it “here’s some dirt, here’s a shovel”
The comparison every reviewer reaches for
Read enough of these reviews and one phrase dominates. Players describe it as "HOI4 lite", "Hearts of Iron 4 streamlined", a game "for people who find HOI4 too complicated", and — more than once, affectionately — "HOI4 from Temu". Several say explicitly that they own Hearts of Iron 4 but do not have the hours it demands.
That framing is the single most useful thing to know before buying, and it cuts both ways: the same simplification that gets you into a war in five minutes is what removes the systems veterans expect. Our comparison guide goes through what is actually missing.
The complaints are structural, not technical
Worth noting for anyone weighing $11.99: almost nobody complains about bugs or performance. One reviewer with 13 hours in specifically opens with "the game is good, fun and it runs surprisingly well" before listing design gripes. The recurring negatives are about missing systems — no peace conference, no population regeneration, defeated units retreating instead of dying — plus alert pop-ups interrupting at bad moments.
Two of those have already moved: the developer shipped two patches in the first four days, including a 33% increase to base money income. Whether the bigger design gaps get filled is the open question.
Source: Steam reviews API, appid 3126500, all languages