Bush Backrub Game in Wall Street Journal

Posted on October 2, 2006

AddictingGames.com has earned a mention in a WSJ.com news story about humorous and political online games. The article includes a discussion of the Bush Backrub game that was based President Bush's notorious neck massage given to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In the game players have to keep world leaders happy by having President Bush give them neck massages.

Persuasive Games, a small firm in Atlanta, just released a Web game called "Airport Security," where players act as security officials screening passengers. The catch: The "rules" about what's allowed on board change about every 10 seconds -- one moment, all fishbowls must be removed from passengers' luggage, another, everyone must remove their pants.

Another game, "Bush Backrub," was released after President Bush gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel an impromptu backrub at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg. Players must alternately give back rubs to Ms. Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, speeding back and forth among the leaders.

Not all of these games are spoofs. "Darfur Is Dying," is meant to educate young people about the crisis in Darfur. The player must take on the role of a Darfurian child or adult and attempt to survive.

For many of these games the focus is more on humor or politics than game play. You can see more of them on websites like AddictingGames.com. Here are the direct links to the games mentioned above: Airport Security, Bush Backrub and Darfur Is Dying. The Darfus is Dying game carries a serious message to raise awareness about the plight of the people in that country.

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