Pork Barrel is a political text simulation game where the player takes the role of a member of congress in the House of Representatives. The aim is to get re-elected and thereby be able to continue with the game. Most of the game involves voting on different bills. After showing information on the district's voters and the current unemployment rate, the game starts out with budget hearings where the player votes on how much money each department should receive. For each department there are two amounts to choose between.