Seven video games that also serve as propaganda

02 August 2014
A still from Guardians of the Skies, a game developed for the Indian Air Force.
A still from Guardians of the Skies, a game developed for the Indian Air Force.

When it comes to recruitment, the Indian armed services usually rely on staid ads invoking grand patriotism, and promising glory and adventure. Recently, however, the Indian Air Force embarked on a new recruitment method by releasing a mobile game, titled Guardians of the Skies, intended to induce such an intense patriotism in players that they immediately sign up for the air force. “The best message actually goes through if we can make people go through the act of playing the game as a fighter pilot,” said Sameer Joshi, the creative director of Threye, the Delhi-based startup that created the game. “Flying an aircraft, taking on enemies, that’s the ultimate propaganda experience.”

While your enemies in GOTS are the fictional Zazurians of a neighbouring country, other games in the past have been much more specific in their premises, directly promoting political and ideological stances. Here are seven games that are less about play and more about propaganda.

1. Fight as an American soldier

Kaushik Mishra Kaushik Mishra is an intern at The Caravan.

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