What if someone modified the video game Snake, where the snake’s tail grows longer the more it eats, but instead, the game involved a border guard who creates a growing tail of arrested migrants?

This is actually a mini-game — a short, simplified video game — that is now available on the United States government’s website alongside other game options that focus on healthy school lunches and a “Trump savings account.” The migrant game is called “Rio Run.”

These games use simple, clear messaging to deliver political messages under the guise of light-hearted entertainment. By hiding behind the “it’s just a game” defence, they weaponize play via political satire instead of harnessing the educational potential of video games to explore complex issues.

While their mechanics are persuasively designed — embedding arguments directly into player actions — they remain overly simplistic. As a researcher and serious-games designer, I believe government platforms could go much further to truly inform and engage the public with games.

The history of political games

Video games are and have always been political. Famed studios like Molleindustria have built a variety of mini-games that take political stances, including The Best Amendment’s portrayal of gun violence in the U.S. or the McDonald’s video game critiquing........

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