Polite Dissent

Over at A View From the Ham, Kerry looks into the Political Machine computer game. It’s a game that lets you run either the Kerry or Bush (or even other candidate’s) campaign for President. I saw it on the shelf last week when I was at Best Buy, and briefly glanced at it (OK, I just looked at the cover art). I thought it looked kind of schlocky. Now, reading Kerry’s post and looking more into the game, I find myself intrigued. I just may have to pick it up.

Back in high school, a group of us would get together and play games on Friday night (well, at least until we got our drivers licenses and/or started dating). Usually we played D&D or Call of Cthulhu, but then one day one of my friends brought out this old presidential campaign game of his father’s. It was a great game! Four people played, and each person took the role of one of the presidential or vice-presidential candidates. Over the next several “months”(game turns), your character would travel the country trying to rack up electoral votes. It was a fun game with some clever mechanics. It took about 2 hours (or 1 deci-Risk) to play. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the game, I just know it was old in the mid-to-late 80s, when I was in high school. I think it was Mr. President, but I certainly could be wrong.

If the Political Machine is anything like that game, I’ve got a new time-killer on my hands.