The White House has launched a series of online arcade games inspired by retro classics, drawing sharp criticism from social media users who called the titles tone-deaf and shameful for their depiction of immigration enforcement. The games, unveiled on the White House website, include Flappy Bill, a take on Flappy Bird that lets players fly a bald eagle down the National Mall, and Build The Wall, a Tetris-style game that encourages players to protect the border.
Other titles include Rio Run, a Snake-inspired game described as patrolling a river and picking up every crosser, and Supply Line, which tasks players with stopping unhealthy foods from being served to children at lunchtime. A point-and-click game called Trump Saving Tycoon focuses on saving money for Trump Accounts. A sixth game is expected to be added soon.
A White House official told The Washington Examiner that the administration is focused on ways to innovate and tell the story of the president's accomplishments in a way that resonates with Americans. The official said the effort aims to contrast a culture of fun and winning with what they called the dark socialist vision Democrats have for America.
The games were widely condemned on social media shortly after their release. One X user called the arcade a pathetic and shameful moment in American history, while another said thinkers spoke of the return of fascism in the 21st century but none said it would come with a cringe aesthetic of 4chan memelord manchildren. A Reddit user said the games were neither fun nor well-designed and gave the impression they were created by bad AI prompts, adding that it would be preferable to someone being paid by the government to put together propaganda.
Some commenters specifically criticized the games for gamifying deportation. One user wrote that the White House launched an online arcade gamifying the deportation of human beings, pointing to Build The Wall and Rio Run as examples of games that round up migrants.
The White House has also promoted the arcade with trailers that parody Xbox, Sega, Pac-Man, and Nintendo's GameCube. The promotional material includes the line, It's time to level up, patriots. Gaming fans have called on companies such as Nintendo and Sega to take legal action over the parodies.
This is not the first time the White House has faced backlash over gaming-related content. Earlier this year, The Pokémon Company responded after the White House shared a Make America Great Again Pokopia meme on social media. A spokesperson said the company's mission is to bring the world together and that the mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda. Last year, The Pokémon Company also took issue with the White House sharing a viral video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting people, set to the anime's theme song.
The White House was also criticized for a video that used footage of the Iran conflict alongside clips from Call of Duty. Despite the repeated backlash, officials say they will continue using gaming memes and references. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration is successfully communicating the president's extremely popular agenda through engaging posts and memes, adding that the message resonates and that they will reach people where they are with content they can relate to, whether that involves Halo, Pokémon, The Lord of the Rings, or any other medium.