Stardock released a new DLC and free version update today for The Political Machine 2020, its popular PC political strategy/simulation game. The DLC adds new candidates in the form of America's founding fathers, while the update includes new candidates, dynamic map animations, the Candidate Workshop, and more.
The Founding Fathers DLC adds Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington as playable candidates. They join the game alongside real world candidates of today like Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and many more.
New Federalist and Democratic Republican ideology trees have been added to the DLC, as well as several new customization parts from hairstyles to clothing for players who like to create their own candidates.
The free v1.3 update adds two bonus candidates: America's 42nd President, Bill Clinton, and the first female nominee for Vice President, Sarah Palin. The new "Candidate Workshop" is now included, which allows players to upload their custom candidates to the Steam Workshop.
Updates have also been made to the electoral map - now, states will flash and bounce, offering visual cues to indicate when a choice a player made results in a change.
The Political Machine 2020 features unique ideology trees for candidates that allows each of them to play differently from one another. In v1.3, when players choose an ideology, the map will show a wave of red or blue to indicate what states are aligned with the policy and which way voters are leaning.
"This game takes politics and brings them to players in a way that is fun and interesting," said Stardock CEO Brad Wardell. "We use current data to model the US and voters. Each issue is modeled on a per state basis with voter support based on polling data to allow for accurate simulations of how those issues will play out in different states."
The newly added "Campaign Events" feature allows players to strategically choose when to go to a state with an event. These opportunities can earn the player extra money, ideology points, political operatives, and more.
The Political Machine 2020 combines polling data, voter enthusiasm, and recent US census results to deliver a game that is fun to play for casual players, and realistic enough for political wonks.
Get the new Founding Fathers DLC on Steam or through Stardock for $4.99. The Political Machine 2020 base game is available on Steam and Stardock for $14.99. For more media assets, you can check out our press kit or visit the forums or feel free to email me. If you need a key for the game, let me know and I'll get one to you as quickly as I can.