Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has released an entertaining computer game called Lame Duck Hunt based on the old-school Nintendo ‘Duck Hunt’ game to inform the public about the bad economic policies retiring and defeated members of Congress could push through in December, the final month of the 112th Congress.
In a press release AFP President Tim Phillips said the intent of the game was to “offer something different that helps inform the young and young-at-heart about solid economic policy in the classic all-American style of computer games.”
The goal of the game is to prevent bad policies from being enacted by shooting the ‘lame ducks’ that dart across the screen. The ducks are anything but lame, though, and are actually quite hard to successfully take down (especially since you are only allotted three bullets per duck), much like the policies the ducks represent.
While the AFP game needs work (perhaps a screen after each round explaining which policy the gamer stopped or failed to stop from being enacted) AFP is on the right path. Economic education disguised as a computer game should prove effective in inspiring today’s youth to speak out against bad policies that threaten them.
Let’s hope Congress can keep their ducks in order better than this duck hunter was able to in AFP’s game.
Francesca Chambers contributed to this report.
