Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past couple months, you’ve at least heard about whole Edward Snowden scandal. Snowden is being hunted for treason and recently Russia has given him temporary asylum. Now three games have emerged to pay some form of respect to Snowden and depict the United States government as incompetent as possible.
Snowden Leaks
Snowden Leaks is a web-based game where you play as Snowden attempting to download and steal data from the NSA (US National Security Agency) headquarters with a USB drive. As you do so, you must avoid the security cameras, intelligence agents and President Barack Obama. Use cheesy stealth techniques by hiding behind curtains, flags, and paintings (think Scooby Doo) and deflect guards by chucking doughnuts at them. If ever a game could mock America’s security forces, it would be this one.
Eddy’s Run: The PRISM Prison
Eddy’s Run is a very simple game where you constantly move to avoid and pummel federal agents. The developers of Eddy’s Run wanted to show their gratitude and appreciation for Snowden’s decision to reveal the NSA’s behavior, saying that Eddy’s Run is “a deep thank you, a bow to Edward Snowden, the man who risked his life to reveal inhuman actions of a shockingly large number of governments toward the citizens of the world by invading the privacy of millions of people.” Did anyone think of Logan’s Run? Just me? The developers have also included a petition supporting Snowden at the end of the game.
Snowden Run 3D
It’s basically Temple Run set in the context of Snowden’s case, developed for smart devices. Snowden runs from Agent Jake to avoid imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay. You, as Snowden, will pick up laptop and USB power-ups in the NSA headquarters, Hong Kong, and Moscow. Also, when you call “Uncle Putin” on your cellphone, you’ll be able to drop a Russian hydrogen bomb, which acts as a power-up ability. Poking fun at political news is nothing new, so enjoy.
If you haven’t heard much about the Snowden events, then maybe these games can help you get caught up. This is just one example of video games acting as a vehicle for content that some demographics may show no interest in–current events gaming niche anyone?
