The White House has launched a web page accessible in a browser that features several simple games aimed at promoting the administration’s message.
These games are entitled Supply Line, which is centered on sorting school-lunch food, and Trump Savings Tycoon, which is based on the administration’s “Trump Accounts” program.
The Tetris Company has pulled back from the other game on the page by saying that it had no involvement and that it takes copyright infringement seriously. One of the six game positions on the page is at the moment left blank, there being a message hinting at future content.
This page is the most recent of a series of promotional posts on the subject of gaming issued by the administration.
White House Browser Games and The Tetris Company Response
The games mentioned have Supply Line in which players are required to sort food on a conveyor belt, passing some of the items into a school lunch box and others into a ‘reject’ box.
The game’s presentation makes it hard to tell the difference between the categories intended, and also references other on-screen features such as a figure in the background and a sign stating that reading food labels is not encouraged.
The last game mentioned, Trump Savings Tycoon, is based on the administration’s “Trump Accounts”, which are described as savings accounts for children.
In the game, players have to click on objects that are themed around money as they move across the screen. The background art features the Reflecting Pool and a construction crane over the Washington DC skyline.
In an Instagram post the Tetris Company dealt with another game mentioned on the page. They stated that “we believe in the power of connection and in bringing people together rather than dividing them” and also added “PS: The Tetris Company had no role in the creation of Build the Wall. PPS: We take copyright infringement very seriously.”
The owners of the other properties mentioned in previous administration posts have to date said nothing. The posts which promoted the arcade page on X have used the Xbox, Nintendo, and Sega logos.
Political Gaming Posts, Industry Reaction, and What Comes Next
George E. Osborn, who wrote the book Power Play: Videogames, Politics, and the Battle for Global Influence, stated on his blog that the content “riffs on widely known popular culture in order to cut through, just as many popular memes do” and has “a chaotic, anarchic tone appropriate for the channel it’s on”.
The analysis by Osborn, which was mentioned in The Guardian, talks about the way the administration’s social media channels have moved towards this type of content.
On the White House arcade page, there is an empty space for a sixth game, which shows the message ‘a new adventure awaits’ and tells followers to ‘stay tuned’, implying that more games are intended.
The complete list of the games, together with their planned release dates and whether or not the copyright issues raised by The Tetris Company will result in any action, has not yet been confirmed.
