The Political Machine (series)

The Political Machine is a government simulation game series from Stardock, 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.

The Political Machine
Genre(s)	Government simulation
Developer(s)	Stardock
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Creator(s)	Stardock
Platform(s)	Android iOS Microsoft Windows
First release	The Political Machine August 10, 2004
Latest release	The Political Machine 2020 (Android, iOS) July 14, 2020

Games

Release timeline

2004	The Political Machine
2005
2006
2007
2008	The Political Machine 2008
	The Political Machine Express 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012	The Political Machine 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016	The Political Machine 2016
2017
2018
2019
2020	The Political Machine 2020

The Political Machine

Main article: The Political Machine

The Political Machine is the first game in the series.

The Political Machine 2008

Main article: The Political Machine 2008

The Political Machine 2008 is the second game in the series.

The Political Machine Express 2008

The Political Machine Express 2008 is the third game in the series and was free to download upon release.

The Political Machine 2012

Main article: The Political Machine 2012

The Political Machine 2012 is the fourth game in the series.

The Political Machine 2016

Main article: The Political Machine 2016

The Political Machine 2016 is the fifth game in the series.

The Political Machine 2020

Main article: The Political Machine 2020

The Political Machine 2020 is the sixth game in the series.

Candidates and characters

21 Presidents of the United States and 69 other candidates have appeared as playable throughout the series, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, George Bush, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Paul Ryan, Jim Webb, and Jill Stein. Candidates are added and removed as candidates announce themselves and as Stardock chooses.

Aside from candidates, the player can be invited onto cable news shows parodying real life equivalents. Such parodies have included takes on The Colbert Report, The O'Reilly Factor, Good Morning America, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and The Ben Shapiro Show.

Candidate	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
George Washington	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
John Adams	No	No	No	No	Yes
Thomas Jefferson	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
James Madison	No	No	No	No	Yes
Abraham Lincoln	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Ulysses S. Grant	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
Theodore Roosevelt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
William Howard Taft	Yes	No	No	No	N/A
Woodrow Wilson	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
Franklin D. Roosevelt	Yes	No	No	No	N/A
John F. Kennedy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Lyndon B. Johnson	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Richard Nixon	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Gerald Ford	Yes	No	No	No	No
Jimmy Carter	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
Ronald Reagan	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
George H. W. Bush	Yes	No	No	No	No
Bill Clinton	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
George W. Bush	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Barack Obama	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Donald Trump	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ajamu Baraka	No	No	No	Yes	No
Joe Biden	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Michael Bloomberg	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Barbara Bush	Yes	No	No	No	No
Jeb Bush	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Laura Bush	Yes	No	No	No	No
Pete Buttigieg	No	No	No	No	Yes
Herman Cain	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Ben Carson	No	No	No	Yes	No
Lincoln Chafee	No	No	No	Yes	No
Dick Cheney	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Hillary Clinton	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wesley Clark	Yes	No	No	No	No
Dan Crenshaw	No	No	No	No	Yes
Ted Cruz	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Catherine Cortez	No	No	No	No	Yes
John Edwards	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Carly Fiorina	No	No	No	Yes	No
Al Franken	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Tulsi Gabbard	No	No	No	No	Yes
Dick Gephardt	Yes	No	No	No	No
Newt Gingrich	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Rudy Giuliani	No	Yes	No	No	No
Barry Goldwater	No	No	No	No	Yes
Al Gore	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mike Gravel	No	Yes	No	No	No
Alexander Hamilton	No	No	No	No	Yes
Nikki Haley	No	No	No	Yes	No
Kamala Harris	No	No	No	No	Yes
Mike Huckabee	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Jon Huntsman	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Gary Johnson	No	No	No	Yes	No
Tim Kaine	No	No	No	Yes	No
John Kerry	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Amy Klobuchar	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Dennis Kucinich	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
John McCain	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Mitch McConnell	No	No	No	No	Yes
Sarah Palin	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rand Paul	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Ron Paul	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Nancy Pelosi	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mike Pence	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Rick Perry	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Condoleezza Rice	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Bill Richardson	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Mitt Romney	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marco Rubio	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Paul Ryan	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Bernie Sanders	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Rick Santorum	No	No	Yes	No	No
Arnold Schwarzenegger	Yes	No	No	No	No
Jill Stein	No	No	No	Yes	No
Michelle Obama	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	No	No	No	No	Yes
Martin O'Malley	No	No	No	Yes	No
Tom Vilsack	Yes	No	No	No	No
Elizabeth Warren	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Jim Webb	No	No	No	Yes	No
Bill Weld	No	No	No	Yes	No
Andrew Yang	No	No	No	No	Yes

Reception

Aggregate review scores
As of May 9, 2016.

Game	Metacritic
The Political Machine	72[1]
The Political Machine 2008	73[2]
The Political Machine 2012	54[3]
The Political Machine 2016	72[4]

References

1. "Political Machine, The". Metacritic. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
2. "Political Machine 2008, The". Metacritic. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
3. "Political Machine 2012, The". Metacritic. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
4. "Political Machine 2016, The". Metacritic. Retrieved August 8, 2019.

External links

• Official website