"State" can be used to mean (more or less) either "country" or "province", I believe.

From Dictionary.com:

7.

a politically unified people occupying a definite territory; nation.

8.

the territory, or one of the territories, of a government.

9.

(sometimes initial capital letter) any of the bodies politic which together make up a federal union, as in the United States of America.

Wikipedia goes into more detail here.

(Use of the term "state" can be seen in the name of the game NationStates (TV Tropes link), for example.)

As to "iso", to my mind that feels somewhat technical--it brings to mind thoughts of measures and standards.

As a suggestion, what about "Citizen of the State"?

SimStates are available but not sure if its a good name (not sounding as good as SimNations etc imo) , also SimuCitizen (Sim-U-Citizen ?) is available but something doesn't fit in :/

btw, seems iso isn't a good idea as you mentioned.

And for suggestion, thanks but I try to avoid words like "the" whenever applicable , only if it will lead to a good domain (TheSimCitizen ? :P )

If you want to focus the name on the citizen part, and want to consider an approach than sounds a bit funnier than the names and words already proposed, why not use "John Doe"? Some examples that come to my mind:

• Life of John Doe
• John Doe in the Republic
• Hello Doe
• A day in Doe's shoes
• Citizen D

I definitely would give a try to those games. If you want a name that sounds serious they won't work, though.

(this is for those who don't know about John Doe)

SimStates are available but not sure if its a good name (not sounding as good as SimNations etc imo) , also SimuCitizen (Sim-U-Citizen ?) is available but something doesn't fit in :/

Hmm... I'm not a lawyer, but it might be worth checking that the owners of the various Sim-<insert noun here> games (SimCity, for example) don't have some form of protection on game-names using that pattern.

And for suggestion, thanks but I try to avoid words like "the" whenever applicable , only if it will lead to a good domain (TheSimCitizen ? )

Fair enough--although I'm curious: if I may ask, why do you try to avoid words like "the"?

SimStates are available but not sure if its a good name (not sounding as good as SimNations etc imo) , also SimuCitizen (Sim-U-Citizen ?) is available but something doesn't fit in :/

Hmm... I'm not a lawyer, but it might be worth checking that the owners of the various Sim-<insert noun here> games (SimCity, for example) don't have some form of protection on game-names using that pattern.

And for suggestion, thanks but I try to avoid words like "the" whenever applicable , only if it will lead to a good domain (TheSimCitizen ? )

Fair enough--although I'm curious: if I may ask, why do you try to avoid words like "the"?

Well, I am not a lawyer either ( so had asked http://www.gamedev.net/topic/651212-name-similarity-and-trademark-coverage/ here before) but although SimCitizen rings the bells , I don't believe in a mechanism every SimX games are automatically under their IP. Not an expert once again, but wonder even if X's SimCitizen (ACM's Walking Dead) would work.

Main problem with SimX approach is absolute lack of creativity apparently :)

And for avoiding "the" , it is the last resort ( TheFacebook.com ) imo, doesn't add any value.

And for avoiding "the" , it is the last resort ( TheFacebook.com ) imo, doesn't add any value.

Ah, fair enough; while it doesn't add much to a URL, I do think that it can change the flow of a title--however, if that change isn't to your taste, then I won't argue against that.

(For example, consider "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant", as opposed to "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"--the former, to my mind, has a more "definite" feel than the latter)

And for avoiding "the" , it is the last resort ( TheFacebook.com ) imo, doesn't add any value.

Ah, fair enough; while it doesn't add much to a URL, I do think that it can change the flow of a title--however, if that change isn't to your taste, then I won't argue against that.

(For example, consider "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant", as opposed to "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"--the former, to my mind, has a more "definite" feel than the latter)

I agree, I avoid "the" whenever possible not always but point taken.

Btw, I decided to look from macro view, so citizen or such oriented names are eliminated, still not sure of SimStates (doesn't sound fitting to casual gamers imo, its like SimClans against Clash of Clans :) ) , also thought of DominaTerra but seems to fitting sci-fi or so themes better.

So I am stuck again :)

I agree, I avoid "the" whenever possible not always but point taken.

Erm, I think that I worded my post poorly (or am misreading your response): I was arguing that the word "the" can be quite useful at times, especially in making the modified term more definite. For example, "the Chronicles" implies (to my mind) that these are not merely a version of the story presented, but the only (correct) version.

I agree, I avoid "the" whenever possible not always but point taken.

Erm, I think that I worded my post poorly (or am misreading your response): I was arguing that the word "the" can be quite useful at times, especially in making the modified term more definite. For example, "the Chronicles" implies (to my mind) that these are not merely a version of the story presented, but the only (correct) version.

Sorry for (very) late reply, although I am no expert in English , I got your point :) I am not in no the no cry mood, just avoiding unnecessary ones like TheFacebook.

Btw, still have no idea what name will be :)

Hey Unduli,

Sounds interesting with what you are trying to do. How far along are you with your project?

Anywho, I agree with a lot of other posts to combine names and roots, but it also has to be something that will capture your audidence's attention. I mean, what they are looking for are things like government simulation, being a leader, getting political power, becoming a military leader with influence, being a business magnate to get all sorts of influence and support.

So something with leadership, politics, war, business.... power, influence.... it has to be something that capture these themes. It has to be a name that INSTANTLY draws the attention of people that google search stuff like "political browser game" or "government social strategy online". So keep that in mind when you're thinking of a name. Also, the thesarus is you're best friend here.

Hey Unduli,

Sounds interesting with what you are trying to do. How far along are you with your project?

Anywho, I agree with a lot of other posts to combine names and roots, but it also has to be something that will capture your audidence's attention. I mean, what they are looking for are things like government simulation, being a leader, getting political power, becoming a military leader with influence, being a business magnate to get all sorts of influence and support.

So something with leadership, politics, war, business.... power, influence.... it has to be something that capture these themes. It has to be a name that INSTANTLY draws the attention of people that google search stuff like "political browser game" or "government social strategy online". So keep that in mind when you're thinking of a name. Also, the thesarus is you're best friend here.

Hi,

I am somewhere between GDD and TDD , have no problem with core idea but finishing details. So theoretically name isn't an urgent issue yet but I want to create some hype with devblog and teasers.

The first game (afaik) based on this concept, eRepublik , suffers of favoring personal glory instead of collabrative one atm. It was based on nationality and sense of being part of something great. This is the path I want to follow so I tend to avoid themes like "power, domination, occupation" etc.

Currently I am wondering variations like Starbound, Citybound ( x bound ) although I have no idea what bound means here or even makes sense :) . I sense that there can be a not so super meaningful but easy to pronounce and remember name can pop up (not limited to bound postfix)