# 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.

## Games

Release timeline :
| 2004 | The Political Machine |
| 2005 |
| 2006 |
| 2007 |
| 2008 | The Political Machine 2008 |
| 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 |
| 2021 |
| 2022 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 | The Political Machine 2024 |

### The Political Machine

The Political Machine is the first game in the series.

### 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

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

### The Political Machine 2016

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

### The Political Machine 2020

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

### The Political Machine 2024

The Political Machine 2024 is the seventh game in the series.

## Candidates and characters

23 Presidents of the United States and 72 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 | Express 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
| George Washington | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| John Adams | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Thomas Jefferson | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| James Madison | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Abraham Lincoln | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Ulysses S. Grant | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| William Howard Taft | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Woodrow Wilson | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| John F. Kennedy | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Richard Nixon | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Gerald Ford | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Jimmy Carter | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ronald Reagan | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| George H. W. Bush | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Bill Clinton | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| George W. Bush | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Barack Obama | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Donald Trump | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Joe Biden | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ajamu Baraka | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Michael Bloomberg | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Doug Burgum | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Barbara Bush | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Jeb Bush | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Laura Bush | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Pete Buttigieg | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Herman Cain | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Ben Carson | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Lincoln Chafee | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Dick Cheney | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Chris Christie | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Hillary Clinton | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wesley Clark | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Dan Crenshaw | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Ted Cruz | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Catherine Cortez | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Ron DeSantis | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| John Edwards | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Carly Fiorina | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Al Franken | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Tulsi Gabbard | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Dick Gephardt | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Newt Gingrich | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Rudy Giuliani | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Barry Goldwater | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Al Gore | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mike Gravel | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Alexander Hamilton | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Nikki Haley | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Kamala Harris | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mike Huckabee | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Jon Huntsman | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Gary Johnson | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Tim Kaine | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Robert Kennedy Jr. | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| John Kerry | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Amy Klobuchar | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Dennis Kucinich | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| John McCain | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Mitch McConnell | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Ralph Nader | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Michelle Obama | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Martin O'Malley | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sarah Palin | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Rand Paul | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ron Paul | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Nancy Pelosi | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Mike Pence | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ross Perot | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Rick Perry | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Dean Phillips | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Vivek Ramaswamy | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Condoleezza Rice | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Bill Richardson | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mitt Romney | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Marco Rubio | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Paul Ryan | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Bernie Sanders | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rick Santorum | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Tim Scott | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Jill Stein | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| J.D. Vance | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Tom Vilsack | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Tim Walz | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Elizabeth Warren | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Jim Webb | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Bill Weld | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Marianne Williamson | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Andrew Yang | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |

## Reception

Aggregate review scores As of November 13, 2023. :
| Game | Metacritic |
| The Political Machine | 72 |
| The Political Machine 2008 | 73 |
| The Political Machine 2012 | 54 |
| The Political Machine 2016 | 72 |
| The Political Machine 2020 | TBA |
| The Political Machine 2024 | TBA |