‘Download the app’ is fast replacing ‘delete your account’ as the unlikely catchphrase of this year’s US presidential election.
No prizes for guessing who most of the election apps tend to be about: Donald J. Trump.
Heat Street rounds up the newest games that will temporarily, at least, take your mind off the real political circus unfolding around us.
Watch out, USA! Thump Trump is coming your way! Are you ready to Rumble? https://t.co/2wAmXrGe3J #RNCinCLE #DNC2016 pic.twitter.com/9Y3Q4jhfca
— Thump Trump (@thump_trump) July 22, 2016
Expertly capturing the full spirit of the Republican Presidential nominee’s personality and boasting knockout production values, by far the best and most entertaining election game out there is Thump Trump, a cartoon comedy satire newly released on the App Store.
The Donald takes center stage as players shield themselves from Trump-esque insults (“I hate losers”, “I love tacos- you should try some from Trump Tower grill”) as well as explosives thrown by his main supporters. The ‘Never Trump‘ movement- doubtless frustrated by events at the RNC this week- and Democrats will take particular satisfaction from being able to hit Trump’s supporters, though no violence is meted out to the man himself as yet.
The fictional fracas also features rival candidates including Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, as well as Sarah Palin and Rosie O’Donnell. So addictive is Thump Trump- released by Thirteenth Floor Studios via mobile games publisher Thumbspire- that my 9-year-old son shouted ‘Thump Trump’ on the New York subway the other day, drawing admiring glances from liberal Manhattan commuters seemingly unaware he was talking about a game.
Trump Yourself:
Hillary Clinton might have been thought reluctant to launch another high-profile tech excursion so soon after her state server e-mail scandal. Not so. She unveiled a new Facebook app last Thursday that enables her supporters to superimpose insults from Donald Trump onto their Facebook profile pictures in order to “discover what DonaldTrump thinks about you”.
There are some generic Trump-isms (“loser”, “hater”, “loser hater”) as well as specific indiscretions relating to women and ethnic minorities (“Women are always griping and bitching”, “Look at my African-American over here”) that her supporters can use.
The site is a useful primer on Trump’s verbal swagger (there’s even “Fat Pig” which is what he called Rosie O’Donnell in 2009). But it loses its novelty value quickly and is not as entertaining as it sounds or the tweet with which Hillary launched the app.
“Dummy.”
“Slob.”
“Animal.”Here’s what @realDonaldTrump has said about you: https://t.co/o3ohaHfR77 #TrumpYourself
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 21, 2016
Crazy Blocks:
Of course there had to be a game satirizing the wall that Trump wants to build on the Mexican border. The objective of Crazy Blocks, from Bluewater Publishing, is to destroy blocks in the huge wall so that Trump lands on metal blocks while keeping him from falling off the wall which gets you fired. For those who miss Tetris.
The more scatologically-minded should opt for parody app Trump’s Wall in which you have to stack blocks as high to build a wall in front of a building that resembles the White House as you can to stop them pooping. In May Trump’s Wall ascended to number five on the App Store. It’s the most successful Trump iOS game but it’s by no means the best.
Trump Yo’self:
Not to be confused with Hillary’s Trump Yourself app, this is one for devotees of the Donald. This app, designed by Useless Creations. allows you to get Trump’s golden hair- the secret of which has yielded almost 3 million searches on Google. Trump Yo’self enables you to take a picture or choose one from your camera roll and add one of his hairstyles into the picture. The app is not as quite as good as the real thing but then when the priority of all the key players in this election seems to be keeping us all comically entertained, how could it ever be?
We love @HillaryClinton‘s efforts, but we did a #TrumpYourself app first! Download it FREE: https://t.co/iLgG05xFwj pic.twitter.com/51UkBnGlhI
— Useless Creations (@UselessCreation) July 21, 2016
Election App Winner: Thump Trump
