Midterm elections are coming up, and instead of running for office, I’m playing The Political Machine
Everyone always focuses on choosing the next President of the United states in the “big” election held every 4 years. But, what about local elections? Primary elections? Midterm elections?
If you don’t think about these, you’re not alone. According to a recent article from npr.org, “for every 10 adults eligible to vote, only about four cast a ballot in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections.”
There are lots of reasons why people vote - or don’t vote - and the article linked above does an excellent job of highlighting many of them. This year, America’s midterm elections will take place on November 6th. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 out of the 100 seats in the United States senate will be contested.
We’ll admit that we didn’t really take midterm elections into consideration when creating any iterations of The Political Machine - for these games, it was all about the main event: the election of a new president. But, smear campaigns, scandals, talk show flubs and failures, speeches - everything that comes along with a massive political campaign - are just as present in the midterm elections as they are in the “big ones.”
If you want to try your hand at running for office, The Political Machine is the safe way to go. Choose your candidate - or make your own! - and run up against the likes of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and more. If your approval ratings tank, just hit “new game” and wash away the pain of failure - that’s what I always do. ;)
Political Machine 2016 v1.33 Update
We are almost to election day. It seemed like Hillary might coast to victory, but the recent batch of emails may knock her out. We've updated issues and introduced some new random events to reflect the world. Read below for details!
Change Log
Issues Updates Election Integrity (New) Politicians on both sides are questioning the validity of election results, suspect either vote tampering or voter suppression. This issue is especially important to Trump.
Probing Hillary's Emails (updated). The FBI's eleventh-hour revelation of new emails has added to the campaign chaos and increasing awareness of this issue.
New random events Internet Revelations Whether it was hackers or cyber-punks or just troublesome teens, someone has been breaking into emails and sharing secrets with the world, causing an unneeded distraction at this critical stage in the campaign. Reduces a candidate's credibility with voters.
Foreign Interference Foreign powers have developed a sudden interest in American democracy and seeing specific candidate win. This has raised questions about the integrity of our democracy. This event reduces a candidate's ability to raise money; it also raises the importance of the "Nationalism" and of "Election Integrity" issues.
Internal Party Revolt Both political parties have rebels stirring in revolt against their candidate, questioning everything they do, said they'll do, or quietly bragged about doing. Reduces a candidate's support across the board.
Political Machine 2016 v1.31 Released
The last few weeks in the political world have been crazy. Based on the recent debates and real-life events, we've decided to update the game's issues and introduced a new debate-themed random event. Read below for details!
Change Log
Issues Updates: <*>Increased the importance of "Probing Hillary's emails." This remains one of the greatest weak spots in Hillary's campaign. <*>Increased raised the importance of "Tax cuts" as there is increasing pressure for Trump to release his tax returns. <*>Slightly reduced the importance of "Fighting ISIS"<*>Slightly reduced the importance of "Securing the Borders." <*>Both of these latter two issues are still important to many voters. However, as other issues have been consuming more time, there has been less focus on them.
New random event "Debate Disaster"
Your debate performance has led to some uncomfortable gaffes related to taxes and led to speculations on whether you were under the influence.
Reduces your credibility, increase the importance of "War on Drugs" and "Tax Cuts."
The Political Machine 2016's latest update brings in the VPs
Stardock has updated its popular strategy game, The Political Machine 2016 with new issues and new candidates to run with including Jill Stein, Bill Weld and Tim Kaine. In addition, new issues like the National Anthem protest have also been added into the game’s simulation.
In The Political Machine, you run for President of the United States. You can run using existing candidates such as Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or create your candidate. One recent update allows you to simulate an actual election with the AI running each candidate’s campaign to see how well they do.
The simulation’s top issues for 2016, according to the Trump AI are Securing the Borders, Attacking Mrs. Clinton’s email handling and preventing domestic terrorism. For Clinton AI, it’s Reducing the wealth gap, Attacking Trump’s Erratic positions, and reducing health care costs. Of course, that’s only what the computer AI thinks they should do.
“Based on the simulation, it could go either way,” said lead designer, Brad Wardell. “I know that’s a cop out but the AI players tend to run the campaigns slightly more optimally than the real thing. They never go off message and they don’t make mistakes in simulation mode.”
Players can play against the computer AI at different levels of difficulty as well against their friends on the Internet or pick two candidates and have the AI control them to see who would win under various circumstances.
You can see the full changelog here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/404620/discussions/0/343786746016733029/
New Campaign DLC for The Political Machine 2016 is Now Available
New Campaign DLC brings Ladder Mode, Historical Candidates, and New Challenges
Battle for your spot in the White House against some of the most famous (and infamous!) presidents in American history.
New Ladder Mode Democrat or Republican? Choose your side and take the nation by storm as you campaign against members of the opposite party to win the presidency. Don’t let your victories go to your head, though - each new opponent will prove more difficult than the last. No one ever said winning the election would be easy!
New Historical Candidates Race against several historical presidents of the past and claim your victory against them. Each candidate comes with a modern perspective on all of the hot current issues and is ready to fight for the 2016 presidency. Defeat each candidate to unlock them for general gameplay.
New Challenges Elections are unpredictable, so each ladder-mode match includes a custom challenge. Things like dealing with high gas prices, the people’s mistrust of politicians, impending war, and more will keep you on your toes as you try to make your opponent’s campaign points a forgotten memory.
Get the Campaign DLC now on Steam or through Stardock!
For more information, visit www.politicalmachine.com
The Political Machine 2016 v1.2 - Available Now
v1.2 Brings Ranked Multiplayer Matchmaking, Election Simulation Mode and a New Campaign Event
Enjoy spectating two candidates of your choice battling it out, match up against other players of your skill level online, and test your wits against a new event in v1.2.
Ranked Multiplayer Matchmaking Looking for someone to play? The new matchmaking system will pair you with someone of similar skill. Your rank increases as you win and you'll be matched with more challenging opponents.
Election Simulation Mode Hillary or Trump? Sanders or Johnson? If you want to really know who is the better candidate enable "simulation" and watch them battle it out.
v1.2 also brings the new "Brexit" event. How will you respond to an issue that is resonating in the hearts and minds of the American people? To learn more about the update and everything else we've added, check out the full changelog at the bottom of the post.
Get The Political Machine 2016 now through Stardock or on Steam.
www.politicalmachine.com
Changelog:
Added "Ranked Multiplayer"
Added "Election Simulation Mode"
New "Brexit" random event
New issues: NASA Funding and Nationalism for use in campaigns
Added "Mike Pence" to candidate list
Tweek issues values
Added support for Campaign mode DLC
Player can no longer access the Options Screen during the "Choose running mate" screen as this led to strange behaviors.
Fixed issue where CTRL+S key combo saves game every frame if the keys are held down. Now only saves once the key combo has been pressed and released.
Fixed issue with the candidate selection screen not displaying correctly if you ping-ponged between single and multiplayer game screens.
Fixed some problems with awarding multiple clipboard-style operatives to the same player at the same time.
Fixed issue with candidate details window called from MP for opponent when you are the peer on the mp setup screen.
Fixed issue with multiple options windows queueing up whenever you hold down escape.
The candidate details window will no longer (rarely) refers to you as the opponent.
The options window "OK" button will no longer get itself confused with similar button from the "Are You Sure You Want To Retire" dialog?
The polling data window no longer shows weird numbers and symbols under certain circumstances and data combinations.
Look out, America - New Candidates and More are Here With v1.1!
New Candidates are Joining the Race!
Plus new issues to find a stance on, a new random event, and more in v1.1!
Play as one of over a dozen new candidates! Choose from previous politicians who were petitioning for presidency! You've been asking when you could play as old candidates, and the answer is: right now! The added campaigners include Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, John Kerry, Ron Paul, and more.
Handle unexpected situations! There is never any guarantee that things will go smoothly during an election season -- heck, it's probably guaranteed that things will go wrong during an election season! The newest event in this update will test how you deal with the death of a supreme court justice. Will you buckle under the pressure when the votes are on the line?
Take a stance on brand new issues! How you choose to respond to the nation's hot topics will have a direct impact on your polling results. The team has added some new and current real-world issues for your presidential hopeful to deal with on their campaign trail. Deliver tough speeches and prepare smear campaigns against your opponents for issues like the Flint water crisis, reducing the wealth gap, and more!
Explore new customization options and multiplayer features! To enrich your experience, several new facial customization options have been added for female candidates. The team has also added UI scaling for folks with high resolution monitors. Multiplayer mode now also has a "time left" function that will show in each game to note how much time you have until the game auto-advances to the next turn.
Play The Political Machine 2016 Now! Steam | Stardock
See the v1.1 changelog here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/404620/discussions/0/357285398699771712/
Let the Campaign Begin - The Political Machine 2016 Releases Today!
Give speeches, go on talk shows, hire unsavory operatives, and
do whatever it takes to become the President of the United States!
If you've ever watched the U.S. elections and thought to yourself, "Even I can do better than that!" -- well, this is the game for you! Take to the campaign trail and win the hearts and minds of America's voters to take your place in the White House.
The Political Machine 2016 is available TODAY!
Purchase it on Steam here or check out our website for more information!
Own The Political Machine 2012?
Upgrade to The Political Machine 2016 for $4.99 now!
Core Features Over a Dozen Candidates to Choose From Play as one of several pre-made candidates like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Time for Some Mudslinging Use your power and money to purchase ads to discredit your opponent and influence voters.
Be Ready for Anything Torrid affairs, natural disasters, email scandals, and other random events can come out of nowhere and change the direction of your campaign for better or worse.
Turn Friends into 'Frenemies' Challenge a friend for the presidency in multiplayer mode.
Out-Talk, Out-Smart, and Out-Spend your Opponents Gain favor with the public by interviewing on talk shows, navigate disastrous random events, and buy advertisements to gain an advantage over your adversary.
Create a Custom Candidate Not a fan of the candidates? Create your own custom front runner and race for the White House.
Practice your Politics A sophisticated underlying simulation model uses census data and real issues to test your political savvy.
Check Your Standings With poll tracking and leaderboards, you can see how well people are playing as their candidates or what issues they are supporting over time.
The Political Machine 2016 is available TODAY!
Purchase it on Steam here or check out our website for more information!
Get Your Talking Points Ready: The Political Machine 2016 is Coming on February 4th!
Get The Political Machine 2016 on February 4th!
If you've ever watched the U.S. elections and thought to yourself, "Even I can do better than that!" -- well, this is the game for you! Take to the campaign trail and win the hearts and minds of America's voters to take your place in the White House in The Political Machine 2016.
With over a dozen candidates to choose from and dozens of national issues to contend with, you'll need to use your wits (and your cash) to convince the nation that you're the right person for the job. If you don't think any of the candidates provided are up to the task of the presidency, you can create your own custom front-runner complete with your own unique avatar, political party, and hometown.
Turn friends into frenemies in multiplayer mode, where the two of you can face off against each other in a campaign to end all campaigns. Buy ads to talk up your issues or tear down your opponent, ace your talk show interviews, and travel across the United States to win those electoral votes!
The Political Machine 2016 Releases on February 4, 2016.
Purchase it on Steam here or check out our website for more information!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/404620
Turn Your Friends into Frenemies - Multiplayer is Now Available in v.80!
Climb to the Top of Capitol Hill... Watch your Friends Roll Down to the Bottom!
Multiplayer has arrived - Check the Full Changelog Below
You asked for it, so here it is: the chance to stampede over your friends' campaigns and become the new President of the United States of America! v.80 is now here with the new "multiplayer" option, complete with lobby and in-game chat so that you can sling mud at each other throughout the course of your campaigns.This update also includes some new issues that reflect current national and international events, and some graphical stability fixes. Take a look at the complete change log for more details on the new additions.Happy (Campaign) Trails to you!
CHANGE LOG
Major Changes
Multiplayer: Battle for the White House against your friends
Updated Issues: Adjusted the importance of issues to better reflect current events
Stability: Addressed numerous graphical issues including problems with the mouse cursor
Issues
Most issue values have been changed. Of particular note are Fighting Issues, Immigration, and A Stronger Military are now top issues
Added more variety to issue importance
Adjusted some issue names to make them sound more neutral
Graphics
"Use Hardware Cursor" will no longer make the cursor invisible
Mouse cursor is now DPI aware. This should address problems where the mouse pointer was offset from the mouse or moved a different speed
Added support for higher resolution monitors
Added a "Fullscreen" choice in the resolution spinner control on the Options Window
"Options" window will wait to warn you about needing a restart until you leave the options window, rather than warning you as soon as you change an option that would require a restart
Fixed z-order issue that was causing the characteristics/issues section of the "Choose Candidate" window to not show up for opponents
When playing in windowed mode, the game will remember its window position next time you start
Bugs
Disabled action buttons when you cannot perform them (ie. not enough stamina/money/clout/etc), and tool tips explain why.
Added "War on Drugs" icon
Added specific images for the "War on Drugs"
Fixed issue on the "World Setup" window where the slider description would not always match the slider you are modifying
Took some text out of the 60 Seconds background image referring to the Election 'Wrapping Up'
Changed the text color on the "Exit Polls" window so that it's more readable against a red or blue background
Main screen: The "state awareness" text will no longer be clipped if either or both candidate reaches 100% awareness
Main screen: Replaced the "Special Interest" button with "Endorsements" and "Operatives" buttons
Main screen: Switched functionality and fixed the "Assets" button and "Candidate Info" buttons
Changed the highlight color of first/last name controls on "New Candidate" window from black to gray
Fixed a stray bobblehead that would show up behind the "World Setup" Window
The "Party" sort button is hidden when choosing a running mate since all candidates shown will match your party
When "time in game" updates mins or hours, if you are on the Title Window, it'll update its text display of time played
