The Political Machine is a government simulation game from Stardock and the first game in the Political Machine series, in which the player leads a campaign to elect the President of the United States. The player accomplishes this goal by traveling from state to state and engaging in a variety of activities to either raise money or raise poll numbers. Each game starts with the selection of a pre-created candidate or creation of a fictional candidate from one of the two major American political parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Headquarters and fundraisers are possible, the effectiveness of which depends on various factors.
When enough money is accumulated the player can invest it in advertisements (either through newspapers, radio, or TV media). The effectiveness of these ads are determined by several factors. For instance, an ad supporting tax cuts will work better with Republican Texas than with Democratic Massachusetts. A key factor in the game is the concept of "Stamina" and "Turns". In each turn, representing one week, a candidate has a set amount of stamina to engage in activities. For example, establishing or upgrading a campaign HQ costs more stamina than creating a newspaper ad.
Mike Forbes (fictitious character based on 1996 and 2000 presidential candidate Steve Forbes)
Bill Mason (although there is a Bill Mason, he is not related to politics; the computer game character is based on the 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole)
Woodrow Wilson (mislabeled as from Georgia; although he spent much of his childhood there, Wilson was elected from New Jersey, where he served as governor)
The game received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[2]
The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated The Political Machine as their 2004 "Strategy Game of the Year (General)", although it lost to The Sims 2. They wrote, "[W]e were enamored with Stardock's The Political Machine, which let us run the 2004 presidential campaign in a way that was far more fun than its real-life counterpart."[13]The Political Machine won Computer Games Magazine's 2004 "Best Budget Game" award.[14]
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