StateOS: The Political Sandbox

About the Game

Rise Through the Ranks of Power

Start as a local politician and build your career through authentic electoral systems, legislative battles, and more. Every decision you make can shape the world and your history.

A Living Political Ecosystem

Hundreds of politicians with unique views and ideologies will vote and behave differently. Metrics affect party popularity, which creates different election results over time. Regions that used to be more likely to vote for one party may shift to another party instead.

Deep Legislative Simulation

Draft legislation that matters. Propose bills on everything from minimum wage to healthcare reform, and watch as AI politicians vote based on their ideology, personal stances, and political party. These bills, policies, and laws affect the metrics of the city, state, or nation, and can make the difference if you want to win re-election or help your party gain popularity.

Key Features:

Government & Legislation

• Draft and propose bills across dozens of policy areas

• Navigate committee systems with scheduling and negotiation mechanics

• Watch policies create real effects on demographics, economy, and public opinion

• Manage government budgets at the city, state, and national levels

• Appoint cabinet members and department heads who influence policy outcomes

• Veto or sign bills as the executive

Campaign & Elections

• Build name recognition and raise campaign funds through events and donations

• Respond to polling data showing your support across different demographics

• Navigate primary elections and general elections

• Choose starting positions from the city council to the governor to the president, or even as an unelected individual

• Experience dynamic election night results with district-by-district tallies

• Scout, interview, and hire staff who will help you in your campaign endeavors

Education System

• School districts with detailed student populations tracked by grade level, age, and demographics

• Student coalitions representing different socioeconomic groups with unique academic scores, college aspirations, and dropout risks

• Teacher staffing analysis with student-teacher ratios, quality metrics, and budget-per-pupil calculations

• Multi-tiered policies: Universal Pre-K, Science of Reading Implementation, Targeted High-Poverty Funding, Teacher Salary Enhancement, Class Size Reduction, Career & Technical Education

• State and federal education laws with dynamic cost calculations based on actual district needs

• Long-term tracking of graduation rates, college enrollment, workforce quality, and economic impact

Public Safety & Crime

• A dynamic crime calculation system analyzing six crime categories: violent, property, drug, white collar, cyber, and public order crimes

• Realistic crime modeling based on unemployment, poverty rates, education quality, and city type

• Police budget effectiveness curves showing optimal spending ranges ($50-$150 per capita) with diminishing returns and over-policing penalties

• Detailed factor analysis: socioeconomic effects, education impacts, and policy consequences

• Criminal justice policy options: tough-on-crime vs rehabilitation focus, drug enforcement vs decriminalization

• Real-time crime rate updates responding to budget changes, policy implementations, and education outcomes

Biased News Media

• Multiple news outlets with distinct editorial positions, party biases, policy preferences, and ideological leanings

• Dynamic news generation covering legislative votes, economic updates, election results, scandals, infrastructure projects, and community events

• Outlet-specific article framing: same event reported positively by supportive outlets, negatively by opposition outlets, neutrally by balanced sources

• Bill lifecycle coverage tracking legislation from committee votes through floor passage to executive signing or veto

• Controversy-based coverage intensity: high-cost or divisive bills receive more extensive reporting

• Authentic journalism elements: citizen quotes reflecting public sentiment, expert commentary, follow-up reporting, and varied story angles

• Context-aware reporting adapting to government level (city council vs. state legislature vs. Congress)

Creator Tools & Customization

• Custom Politicians: Design detailed backgrounds with attributes, ideologies, and policy positions

• Party Creator: Build parties with custom logos in a pixel art style, ideologies, internal factions, and complete policy platforms

• Scenario Editor: Create entire political worlds with pre-configured governments, regions, and starting conditions. Want to re-create the 1990s United States? You can! Want to re-create different scenarios in history or make unique ones, like what if the most popular party in Japan was an agrarian party? You can!

Procedural Generation

• Dynamic politician generation with realistic names

• Procedural party creation with logos, factions, and leadership structures

• Coalition systems are generated for every electoral district

• Demographic distributions across cities, counties, and regions

Every campaign tells a different story. With either procedurally generated worlds or scenarios you create, the dynamic world can create all kinds of unique scenarios that may happen. One playthrough is never like the other.