‘To them, we’re just NPCs’: the artists and activists challenging Trump’s video game propaganda
Video game creators and activists have launched satirical games to counter the Trump administration's official Arcade, a collection of browser-based political propaganda.
In early September, the Trump White House launched Arcade, a website featuring browser games based on classics like Flappy Bird and Tetris, but re-tuned as political propaganda. The games court reactionary gamers and push the administration's policies on immigration and other issues, while dehumanising targets. After news coverage, the Tetris Company warned of copyright infringement, leading to the game's removal from the White House site.
While the Pokémon Company condemned the use of its characters in ICE propaganda, major video game companies have remained relatively silent on the administration's widespread use of their intellectual property.
Anonymous collective creates satirical games
Anonymous art collective The Secret Handshake has developed two free games to satirise the Trump administration. Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell allows players to control the president in a Pokémon-style challenge, where they must choose between ordering a Diet Coke or invading Iran. The game is unwinnable, with a "Game Over" screen triggered by trying to hold Melania Trump's hand.
The group's second game, Operation Epic Furious: Nuuk 'Em All, tasks players with speaking to Trump's advisers, including a UFC fighter as "secretary of combat" and a no-bid contractor. The goal is to collect "Big Brainpower" to figure out how to distract voters from the oil crisis, leading to a decision to invade Greenland.
The Secret Handshake, known for political activism, had never made a video game before. They describe their work as "held together with duct tape" and inspired by early Final Fantasy titles and South Park games. More than 350,000 people have played their games online.
Developer creates 'Tax Evaders' game
Game developer Richie Branson partnered with nonprofit All for America to create Tax Evaders, a Space Invaders-style game. Players choose one of four playable pilots—President Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, or Senate Leader John Thune—and destroy healthcare programs to line billionaire pockets.
The intent here is to drive home the point that these officials are destroying beneficial programmes with the same combination of enthusiasm and indifference as someone blowing up enemy space ships in an arcade game.
Branson, who used the Godot game engine, noted that the White House team is "on a rampage" with its memelord and gaming culture posts. Tax Evaders has had over 50,000 players and over 2 million page impressions since July.
Activists use AI to highlight corruption
Advertising professionals Alfie Souter and Carlota Real built Corrupt Invaders, a Space Invaders homage, using ChatGPT. The game tasks players with moving Trump's $400m Qatari gift, a Boeing 747-8 luxury jet, to collect another $1.4bn in crypto. The final score is subtracted from Trump's reported cryptocurrency earnings.
Gas prices are crazy right now, people's lives are being affected, but to our nation's leadership, we're just NPCs.
The duo wanted to focus on the money Trump and his allies have earned since his second presidency and juxtapose it against Americans' concerns with the cost of living crisis. They also launched Diesel Kong, a parody of Donkey Kong, featuring Trump as Princess Peach and a Maga supporter as the protagonist, amidst rising oil prices due to the Iran war.
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