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A new iOS game released this week lets players pit Barack Obama and Mitt Romney against each other in a cartoony slug-fest, using weapons ranging from rolled-up copies of the U.S. Constitution to lightsabers.
If Vote!!! feels like the hit game Infinity Blade, that's because it was developed by its creator Chair Entertainment.
You attack by swiping on the screen, and dodge or block using virtual buttons displayed beneath the action. Throwdowns can take place on the White House lawn, the Oval Office and a debate stage.
Chair Entertainment head Donald Mustard said that the original prototype for the game was created in just a day, but the rest of the crew at Chair parent company Epic Games loved it so much that they decided to take a couple more weeks to finish the project.
"We though it was a great opportunity to make something a little more light-hearted," Mustard told Wired.
In order to abstract some of the violence in Vote!!!, battles in the game are supposed to represent "debates." The words "Rebuttal!" and "Personal Attack!" pop up at the top of the screen with each successful hit, and at the end of the match, players get a chance to launch "closing remarks," which lets you launch a lengthy volley of attacks on the other candidate while they flail around in a daze.
This, of course, earns you bonus points.
Vote!!! actually has an online meta-game built into it – each time you play a game as either candidate, they'll earn a "vote" which gets added to an overall global tally. The system, based on Infinity Blade's ClashMob feature, tracks worldwide voting tallies in real time. The current vote split is displayed on the game's main screen.
The game is free to download, but all of its unlockable features will cost in-game coins, which can be purchased with real money. You can spend those coins to dress your candidate of choice up like a boxer or karate master, or to buy new weapons which range from rubber chickens to lightsabers.
Chair says that a portion of all proceeds from the game will be donated to Rock The Vote, which it has partnered with as promotion for the game. Vote!!!'s home screen even features a direct link to Rock The Vote's website, which allows players to register to vote (in real life) from their phones.
Mustard says that although Chair is focused on its "next big project," his team will consider updating Vote!!! with new content.
"If people love it or are clamoring for it we'll see if we can add in Vice Presidents or something," Mustard said.
