''Raid Gaza!'' is a short real-time strategy

Flash game A browser game or a "flash game" is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Some browser games are also available as mobile apps, PC games, or on co ...

by Marcus Richert which

satirizes Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

the Israel–Palestine conflict from a pro-Palestinian perspective. The game was uploaded to Newgrounds on December 30, 2009, three days into Israel's Operation Cast Lead, and was also released for Android phones through Google Play. It has been referred to as a

newsgame Newsgames are a genre of video games that attempt to apply journalistic principles to their gameplay. Newsgames can provide context to complex situations which might be hard to explain without experiencing the situation firsthand.According to "News ...

and an "editorial game" by

Ian Bogost Ian Bogost is an American academic and video game designer, most known for the game ''Cow Clicker''. He holds a joint professorship at Washington University as director and professor of the Film and Media Studies program in Arts & Sciences and ...

, and as a "journalistic game" by Piotr Kubinski.

Gameplay

The game puts the player in the shoes of the

Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

, responsible with retaliating against the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

after the opening cutscene where a lone, meandering Qassam rocket eventually lands on the Israeli side of the border. The player is bluntly tasked with the mission of killing as many Palestinians as possible by a crudely drawn

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...

. Once the game starts, the player finds themselves ridiculously overpowered with access to "missiles, Merkava tanks, F15I Eagle fighters, and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters," and access to what amounts to unlimited financial assistance from the United States whenever requested through a simple phone call. The computer-controlled opponent, Gaza, on the other hand, continues to send its lonely Qassam rockets, which only occasionally cause any Israeli deaths. All the while, a

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingh ...

version of The Carpenters' " Close to You" plays in the background. On occasion, the player "unlocks" random achievements like "Bonus: Hospital hit!" While there is no true loss condition, the player is "rewarded" with an approving message from Ben Ehud Olmert if they manage to maintain a ratio of more than 25 dead Palestinians per 1 Israeli casualty.

Reception

Video game academic

called the game "headstrong" and "one-sided" but also remarked he found it editorially effective both as "an opinion text and as game." Tony Fortin of French gaming website Merlanfrit said the game did a better job than the news media of describing the "perfect reality" and injustice of the conflict. Stephen Petrina at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

said that the game "strikingly communicated" the "unpalatable horrors of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" in a "very real way." Dora Kishinevsky of Israeli business website '' Calcalist'' said that regardless of what one thinks of the political viewpoint of the game, one must recognize its "impressive effectiveness" as a work of political art. Others were less forgiving: Mike Fahey of ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' said it left him feeling a "bit ill," while

Matt Peckham Matt C. Peckham (born October 29, 1972, in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American journalist who writes about interactive entertainment, science and the cultural impact of technology. He was TIME Magazine's games critic, before joining Nintendo of Am ...

of '' PC World'' called it "noisy oversimplification" and "music to the choir" and later included the game on a list of "The 15 Most Offensive Video Games Ever Made".

Jonathan V. Last Jonathan V. Last (aka JVL; born May 6, 1974) is an American journalist and author. He is the editor of '' The Bulwark'', and previously worked as a senior writer and digital editor at ''The Weekly Standard.'' He is the author of ''What to Expect ...

of the conservative ''

The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "red ...

'' "confessed" that the game "had an effect quite opposite the intended one" on him. Among users on sites like Newgrounds, the overall reaction has been described as divided but one of shock, despite the site at the time frequently featuring both pornographic and ultra-violent material. ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' reported that "most omments on Newgroundsseemed to support Jerusalem's position." Whether ironically or non-ironically, it was reported that young Israelis actually took a liking to the game. ''Raid Gaza!'' was followed by several other games dealing with the conflict from other independent game developers, such as '' Save Israel'' and ''Gaza Defense Force''.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , last1=Kubiński , first1=Piotr , title=Gry zaangażowane na tle innych gier wideo , journal=Res Publica Nowa , volume=Nr 3/2014 (23/2014) , pages=145–150 , url=https://biuletynpolonistyczny.pl/media/beventspublication_texts201610bKubixc5x84ski_Grxc4x85_opowiedziexc4x87_konflikt.pdf , access-date=29 July 2021 , language=Polish {{cite web , last1=Spiess , first1=Kevin , title=Political satire and flash mix in Raid Gaza! game , url=https://www.neoseeker.com/news/9562-political-satire-and-flash-mix-in-raid-gaza-game/ , website=Neoseeker {{cite journal , last1=Hudson , first1=Dale , last2=Zimmermann , first2=Patricia R. , title=Tactical Engagement through Gaming and Narrowcasting , journal=Thinking Through Digital Media , date=2015 , pages=149–150 , doi=10.1057/9781137433633_5, isbn=978-1-349-49270-1 {{cite web , last1=Petrina , first1=Stephen , title=Flash game as a vehicle of social protest? {{! How We Learn Media & Technology , url=https://blogs.ubc.ca/hwlmt/2009/01/07/flash-game-as-a-vehicle-of-social-protest/ , publisher=University of British Columbia , access-date=29 July 2021 {{cite news , title=Gaza-Israel video games cause controversy , url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28657324 , work=BBC News , date=5 August 2014 {{cite magazine , title=Google Removes 'Bomb Gaza' Game From Play Store , url=https://time.com/3082253/google-bomb-gaza-game/ , access-date=29 July 2021 , magazine=Time , language=en {{cite news , last1=קישינבסקי , first1=דורה , title=משחק מלחמה בשטח עוין , url=https://www.calcalist.co.il/internet/articles/0,7340,L-3194044,00.html , access-date=29 July 2021 , work=כלכליסט , date=18 January 2009 {{cite web , title=Raid Gaza game satirises Israeli military action , url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/jan/07/gameculture-indiegames , website=the Guardian , access-date=29 July 2021 , language=en , date=7 January 2009 {{cite web , title=Gaza Strife Reflected Poorly In Raid Gaza Flash Game , url=https://kotaku.com/gaza-strife-reflected-poorly-in-raid-gaza-flash-game-5120808 , website=Kotaku , date=30 December 2008 , language=en-us {{cite web , last1=Bogost , first1=Ian , title=Raid Gaza! Editorial Games and Timeliness , url=http://newsgames.gatech.edu/blog/2009/01/raid-gaza-editorial-games-and-timeliness.html , website=Newsgames Georgia Tech Journalism & Games Project , publisher=The Georgia Institute of Technology , access-date=29 July 2021 , archive-date=29 September 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929035303/http://newsgames.gatech.edu/blog/2009/01/raid-gaza-editorial-games-and-timeliness.html , url-status=dead {{Cite web, url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/156542/raid_gaza_game.html, title = Raid Gaza! Flash Game Oversimplifies Israel-Palestine Conflict, date = 13 January 2009 {{Cite web, url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/206555/the_15_most_offensive_video_games_ever_made.html, title=The 15 Most Offensive Video Games Ever Made, date=29 September 2010 {{Cite web, url=https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/War-games, title = War games, date=15 January 2009 {{Cite web, url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/killjoys-for-change, title = Killjoys for Change, date = 14 June 2010 {{Cite web, url=https://www.merlanfrit.net/Raid-Gaza, title=Raid Gaza ! (Raid Gaza !) - Merlanfrit

External links

''Raid Gaza!'' on Newgrounds.com
Browser games Flash games 2008 video games Parody video games Political satire video games Video games developed in Germany Israeli–Palestinian conflict video games