Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games

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Water Cooler Games

Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Bush Backrub

by Ian Bogost August 4, 2006

categories: Newsgames , Political Games

A new little newsgame over at AddictingGames.com, this one taking on the much-publicized impropmptu backrub Bush performed upon German chancellor Angela Merkel. The game, Bush Backrub, is simple enough: move Bush around behind cleverly selected world leaders. Click rapidly to offer a "Texan backrub." Keep the comfort meters full or you lose.

As with many of these little games, not really political in content, but an adequate and rapid interpretation of a news event that got a lot of media attention.