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The Political Machine

The Political Machine Game Cover
72%Game Brain Score
humor, story
gameplay, replayability
72% User Score Based on 422 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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The Political Machine Game Cover

About

The Political Machine is a single player and multiplayer strategy game with fantasy, comedy and historical themes. It was developed by Stardock Entertainment and was released on July 31, 2012. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Do you have what it takes to be president? Play as more than 20 candidates including Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich or create your own candidate from scratch. Players take to the campaign trail against a computer controlled opponent or a human challenger over the Internet. The goal: win the hearts and minds of America's voters to achieve victory in the 2012 presi…

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The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
The Political Machine screenshot
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72%
Audience ScoreBased on 422 reviews
humor18 positive mentions
gameplay4 negative mentions
  • The game is entertaining and offers a humorous take on the political process with customizable characters.
  • It provides a fun way to engage with politics, especially when played with friends, and has a decent level of strategy involved.
  • For its price, it offers good replayability and can be a fun distraction for those interested in political simulations.
  • Requires a Stardock account to play, which many players find frustrating and unnecessary.
  • The gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth, leading to limited replay value after a few sessions.
  • The game is criticized for being overly simplistic and not accurately reflecting the complexities of real-world politics.
  • gameplay
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Gameplay reviews are mixed, with some players finding it boring and lacking substantial depth, while others appreciate its quirky mechanics and multiplayer stability. The political capital and stamina mechanics have drawn criticism for being less effective than in previous iterations, and character creation feels limited. However, the option to randomize scenarios adds some longevity, making it a fun, albeit flawed, presidential race simulator.

    • “I enjoy that board game feel without the board game mechanics, and I could easily see this being used in high school government.”
    • “It delivers great game mechanics and fulfills what it promises to be: a wacky presidential race simulator.”
    • “Gameplay is fluid and multiplayer is steady.”
    • “Boring gameplay and nothing substantial to back it up.”
    • “The political capital mechanic is worse than the original, and the stamina mechanic forces you to play a high-stamina candidate to compete.”
    • “The game itself isn't very intuitive, and gameplay ends up getting more annoying than challenging.”
  • humor
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in "Political Machine" is widely praised for its cartoon art style and witty writing, making the game a fun and entertaining take on the U.S. presidential election process. Players appreciate the blend of accurate political information with a lighthearted, comedic approach, although some feel it may not justify the price. Overall, it is described as a fast-paced, humorous strategy game that delivers plenty of laughs.

    • “With its cartoon art style and hilarious writing, Political Machine allows you to play out your very own U.S. presidential election.”
    • “Political Machine is a hilarious bite-sized version of the American electoral process.”
    • “Real, accurate info about the current political makeup of the U.S. (taken from census and polling data) with a ton of humor piled on top.”
  • replayability
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability in the game is a mixed bag; while the ability to create custom candidates and randomize campaign variables offers significant replay value, many players find the experience repetitive and lacking depth. Some enjoy the fun, casual nature of the game, likening it to a quick, enjoyable snack, but others criticize its barebones design and limited long-term engagement. Overall, the game may provide short bursts of entertainment, but its replay value is ultimately constrained.

    • “The ability to create your own candidates and randomize any or all of the key campaign variables of the states greatly enhances replayability, especially since its current version is stuck on the issues that drove the 2012 elections.”
    • “Really like this game, with a wide range of candidates and custom candidates, the replayability is quite high.”
    • “Significant replay value through randomization of map values and PvP multiplayer.”
    • “The game is pretty barebones and has very little replay value.”
    • “On that note, I'm probably never going to play it again, so bear in mind that while there is replayability, it's only in a 'doing the same thing over and over but with silly candidates' kind of way.”
    • “Overall, it's as enjoyable as a candy bar or a coke, priced affordably, will give you a quick rush, but after you consumed it, it will be gone, not a lot of replayability (and it shows as most people don't even have the 10 or 20 games won achievement).”
  • monetization
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's monetization system revolves around strategic spending on advertisements, including slander and fundraising, to influence public opinion and increase campaign ratings in various states. Players can exploit the system by focusing on popular issues to gain an advantage, particularly disadvantaging candidates with opposing views. Overall, the monetization mechanics are criticized for lacking innovation and perpetuating an imbalance in gameplay.

    • “The game includes everything from media publicity to defaming advertisements; you can advertise how much Obama is against Obamacare, for example.”
    • “You can get yourself a little more dough and start fundraising, with states like California and Texas having the highest population and thus the highest amount of people willing to give you their cash so you can create TV ads denouncing Mitt Romney's opinion of gay marriage.”
    • “There's nothing new here, and the same exact problem where you can win every time against anyone by stacking a webmaster and TV/radio ads in a state while trumpeting your support of issues that everyone approves of is still there.”
  • graphics
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in the game are generally praised for their improvement and vibrant cartoon art style, contributing to an engaging visual experience. However, some players express a desire for more complexity and density, reminiscent of the previous "President Forever" series. Overall, while the graphics are considered good, they evoke mixed feelings about the depth and detail compared to earlier titles.

    • “The graphics are amazing, and not to mention the story in the game is breathtaking.”
    • “With its cartoon art style and hilarious writing, Political Machine allows you to play out your very own U.S. presidential election.”
    • “The graphics are slightly better and the gameplay is slightly improved.”
    • “However, it just made me long for the denser, although much more graphically confusing, President Forever series.”
    • “The graphics are slightly better, but the gameplay is only slightly improved.”
    • “What could have been good is if you put the districts in the game and split the demographics out by the year's census.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches that detract from the overall experience, even after players attempt to resolve some of the game-breaking problems.

    • “A pile of bugged rubbish; even after I fixed one game-breaking bug, I was left with several glitches that ruined the experience.”
  • story
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in the game is highly praised, with users describing it as breathtaking and engaging, complementing the impressive graphics.

    • “The graphics are amazing, and not to mention the story in the game is breathtaking.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development allows players to customize their character's design and stats, focusing primarily on electoral traits like charisma and appearance. This system provides a unique approach to character progression, emphasizing personal attributes that influence gameplay.

    • “After picking the character design, you are able to set up the character stats, which are primarily based on electoral properties such as charisma and appearance.”
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5h Median play time
5h Average play time
5-5h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Political Machine is a strategy game with fantasy, comedy and historical themes.

The Political Machine is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing The Political Machine.

The Political Machine was released on July 31, 2012.

The Political Machine was developed by Stardock Entertainment.

The Political Machine has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its humor but disliked it for its gameplay.

The Political Machine is a single player game with multiplayer support.

Similar games include The Political Machine 2016, The Political Machine 2020, The Political Machine 2024, The Political Process, Game Dev Tycoon and others.