White House launches policy-themed online arcade games
U.S. President Donald Trump. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/
The White House has launched a new arcade section on its website featuring retro-style video games tied to President Donald Trump’s policy priorities.
The site includes “Rio Run”, described as border patrol along the Rio Grande, and “Supply Line”, in which players sort school lunches under the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. The current arcade page also lists “Flappy Bill” and “Trump Savings Tycoon”.
Andrew Wilson, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media, says games can make complicated topics feel more accessible, but can also reduce their nuance.
“To kind of like take these complex topics that are politically divisive, like immigration enforcement or making America healthy again, and reducing it to a browser style game that you can kind of like mess with for a couple of minutes and then shut off, it does reduce the complexity of those topics,” Wilson said.
Wilson said video games have long included political messages, whether players recognize them or not.
One game previously on the site, “Build the Wall”, was no longer listed this week. The game used block-stacking gameplay similar to Tetris. The Tetris Company said it was not involved in creating the game and said it takes copyright infringement seriously.
The White House has not publicly explained the game’s removal.
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