While the phenomenon of
Political Games has largely grown
from activist movements, recent months have seen the emergence of browser games made by political parties in the US designed to swerve the vote through a mixture of propagandism, humour and
habit planting.
Funnily enough, while these games work at a lower level than the Political Games made by artists and activists (they seek to directly influence the vote in a populist medium) they are far lighter in content, bordering on absurdist satire.
Whereas Political Games like Escape From Woomera provide a veritable education in a serious national disaster brought about by a right wing government, the Democrats 'Click to Kick Bush Out'
is designed to ridicule the opposition and collect a virtual vote that can then be used as statistical evidence of public opinion.
In the fever of US political campaigning, it seems these games are granted immunity from accusations of defamation, they can go as far as they like. Secondly it's possible they have more influence than any game we as artists could ever make, games whose cutesy frontends collect serious statistical arsenal.
related links:
taxinvaders
kerry vs kerry
kick bush out
contractopoly
thanks to la petite claudine for the links!
