The Political Machine 2016

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5

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  1. TitaniumDragon
    Oct 16, 2017
    2
    The Political Machine 2016 is a very simple campaign simulator. Based around the 2016 election, you can play as one of about 20 or so candidates on either the Democratic or Republican side, which affects your candidate’s statistics.

    The game is very simple – really, almost board-game like. On each turn, you have a certain amount of “stamina”, which affects how many actions you can take.    The Political Machine 2016 is a very simple campaign simulator. Based around the 2016 election, you can play as one of about 20 or so candidates on either the Democratic or Republican side, which affects your candidate’s statistics.

    The game is very simple – really, almost board-game like. On each turn, you have a certain amount of “stamina”, which affects how many actions you can take. Going to another state takes one stamina; creating an ad or raising money takes three; giving a speech or building a new campaign headquarters takes four.

    Your goal is to win the presidency, and to that end, you can buy ads (either local or big TV ads that affect the whole country) about a particular issue to promote your stance on it or attack your enemy’s stance on it; each state has three issues it primarily cares about, and trying to boost or lower these can help or hurt you. You can also give speeches which seem to have a similar effect, increasing your local popularity as well as showing your stance off to the country.

    The headquarters have various effects, mostly seeming to give you some sort of passive boost in the area; you can upgrade them to increase the size of these boosts, as well as their primary effects (giving you money, giving you points that allow you to buy endorsements, and giving you points that allow you to buy campaign operatives, independent units that are similar to buildings, but which can be moved around, and give you some sort of boost in whatever state they’re located in).

    While all of this sounds like there’s a fair bit of complexity to it, in reality the game is actually extremely simple; basically, you build some headquarters at the start to maximize their value, building them up as high as possible because that gives you a larger boost to the stats without costing too much stamina, as well as their larger local influences, and then you run around building HQs and ads to try and shore up support, with your visits doing much the same. Every game seems to play out almost identically, with no real crises seeming to appear, or anything really compelling you to react. The game just feels like it is very simple, encourages a very unidimensional pandering strategy, and just fails to engage. Despite the bobble-headed figures, the game isn’t very humorous, and a lot of it is very vague, possibly to avoid offending anyone, but also just making it much less interesting.

    The first round let me see all the game had to offer, and after that point, I was left wondering why I should bother playing the game any further. This isn’t really worth your time; it is a very ephemeral experience, and feels like it lacks any real depth or character.    … Expand
  2. lifeofbrian
    Nov 22, 2015
    6
    Practically no improvements made since the last release. Only minor UI changes and the candidates and issues have been adjusted. Overall can't say I'm very impressed at all by it.
  3. SuperMaarten64
    Aug 23, 2018
    9
    i enjoyed this game for what it is. and also because of the insanely fun Create A Candidate feature where you can make your very own Donald Trump!
  4. CriticalHit20
    Dec 23, 2019
    7
    In the previous version, you could play as an alien on another planet which I thought was hilarious and fun. I don't think much has changed since the last version and even some fun stuff like the above has been taken away.
    It was fun to take Sanders and Warren to the oval office but I don;t think I will be playing this game for a long time, being a busy parent and playing the previous    In the previous version, you could play as an alien on another planet which I thought was hilarious and fun. I don't think much has changed since the last version and even some fun stuff like the above has been taken away.
    It was fun to take Sanders and Warren to the oval office but I don;t think I will be playing this game for a long time, being a busy parent and playing the previous version to death.
    If you are into politics and wish outcomes could be different, then this game should provide a lot of fun. Those that do not follow U.S. politics though will probably dislike it.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Gaming Age
    Mar 16, 2016
    83
    For most people, who just want to beat Trump/Clinton from the comfort of their computer, I imagine that The Political Machine 2016 will do just fine.
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  2. Brash Games
    Feb 22, 2016
    70
    It’s not a long game; even if you select the longest campaign length of 52 weeks, it shouldn’t take much longer than an hour or so each time. But it’s fun while it lasts and has pretty much infinite replayability.
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  3. Softpedia
    Feb 9, 2016
    70
    The Political Machine 2016 has solid mechanics and delivers an approximate but engaging take on the American electoral process, giving players the tools they need to fulfill any kind of presidential dreams that they have. Unfortunately, the game has not evolved too much, other than when it comes to the issues that voters are interested in and the candidates for both parties, when compared to the 2012 edition and that's a shame given the possibilities to add depth to the experience.
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