Played and Reviewed Games

Border Patrol
http://www.aztlan.net/racist_anti-mexican_game.htm
This game is made by someone extremely racist.  The message that the mexicans are not welcome and should be killed trying to come into the US is crystal clear.  The simplistic nature of the game is effective in delivering this message.  The extreme speed in which the mexicans are crossing the border indicating a flood of mexicans entering the country and the simple point and click to shoot representing that it is as easy to kill a mexican crossing the border as it is killing a cockroach.  The visuals also support this message.  The images of mexican families crossing over and getting shot is shocking.  The game would actually be fun if it was zombies, aliens, or bugs that were being shot, but being that a whole nationality is being targeted the game is extremely offensive.

Super Chick Sisters
http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/superchicksisters/index.asp
This game is an anti Kentucky Fried Chicken game that tries to help people understand the cruelty that the chickens suffer at KFC.  This game is a parody of Super Mario Bros.  There are many aspects of the game that make it effective in conveying the message of cruelty.  One aspect is that there is an actual story to the game.   Colonel Sanders is the villain, Pamela Anderson is the kidnapped princess, and chickens are our heroes.  One thing I found that worked very well is that as you progress though the game you reach characters that have info on the the things that happen to the chickens.  I was surprised at some of the things I learned.  The most important aspect of the game that keep people playing is the gameplay.  We all know why Super Mario Bros has been around for over 20 years, it is because the platforming in the Mario games is simple, fun, and addicting.  This game uses the proven Mario Bros. recipe to make people want to play the game and thus being able to distribute their message.  The visuals are work toward their goal as well.  With the enemies having Colonel Sanders head, the KFC buckets of blood, etc. the visuals help with the message.

Congo Jones
http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/congojones
This goal of this game is to inform people on what is happening to the rain forests.  Unfortunately the problem this game suffers from keeps it from being an effective game.  The problem lies with the controls.  The controls are so difficult and frustrating to use I found myself not wanting to play anymore after dying only four times.  For the purposes of this class I tried to push on to see if the game got any better or if I could get the hang of the controls.  After five minutes of playing I could not take it anymore.  I finally had to realize that I was not going to get the hang of it.  I felt bad for this game.  It has a great message but I assume that the vast majority of people that try to play this game give up on it after thirty seconds.