Decent games about the political process are few and far between, but Stardock (Sins of a Solar Empire, Galactic Civilizations II) will release The Political Machine 2008, a turn-based election strategy sim for PC, on June 18th.
And, while real politics is an expensive business, the virtual kind is relatively cheap. The Political Machine 2008 retails for a mere $19.95.
Over at GameSpot, Jon Miller, who played as manager of Barack Obama's simulated campaign, has a detailed preview:
In The Political Machine, one turn breaks down to one week. The amount of stamina your candidate has limits the number of actions you can perform for each turn. Early on, the country is one giant mass of undecided voters, and it's your goal as campaign manager to sway them with lofty campaign promises...as well as blatant negative campaigning...
Of course, no election is complete without fundraising. Each action in the game, even flying from one state to another, will drain your campaign budget. If you have enough stamina, it helps to hit the fundraiser button, especially in wealthy states loyal to your party. Obama cleaned up in California and New York, routinely bringing in more than $200,000 per fundraiser, but he floundered in South Dakota where he raised only $6,000.
And so the campaign season goes... The Political Machine 2008 is not the most complicated strategy game out there, but it's a fun, lighthearted look at American politics.
GP: I enjoyed the last version of the game (2004), and can't wait to get my hands on this one.
Comments
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/6/6/
That game looks really cool :) May have to check it out. Anyone know if there will be a demo? I looked on the site but couldn't see anything like that...
-- mostly harmless
I liked 2004, so I'll probably wind up getting this. Heh, to bad I doubt video games will be one of the things you can talk about.
They had a demo for the 2004 one, so they may do one for this as well. I really didn't enjoy the 2004 one. I thought the overall gameplay was pretty good, but lots of little stuff bothered me, that could be fixed easily. The states were just too easy to sway and I should have never been able to win states like wyoming as a democrat. I think if they opened it up and allowed more customization, it could be a much better sim game.
Looks interesting. Come to think of it, the elections would be a cool concept for an RTS too.
Lame
I love that they gave Colbert a cameo.
I pre-ordered this and they were supposed to have beta testing for all pre-order customers, but sadly, they weren't able to meet the deadline for the betas. I will be getting this the day it is released and playing it. I will also be posting a review as well.
E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.com
If only I had money.
/yeo. Ill buy the game once I play the demo
Does anyone any more complicated, more strategic political games out there??