Blair and Brown battle it out in new computer game

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Posted on 19 Nov 2007 at 08:39

Forget Solid Snake, Lara Croft and Super Mario - the new stars of the gaming world are Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and a Paris Hilton lookalike.

All three appear in a new game called Serious Policy, which aims to give budding politicians an insight into the machinations of Downing Street decision making.

It stars the current and former Prime Minister, alongside Chancellor Alistair Darling, Defence Secretary Des Browne and Conservative leader David Cameron.

Bizarrely, it also includes a "Paris Hilton lookalike" who "provides some light relief" and "the MC has more than a passing resemblance to Keira Knightley," according to the game's website.

The aim of the game is to get Treasury funding for a new policy. "Players can get advice from Tony Blair, get on Alistair Darlings' nerves, or get congratulated by the PM," the game's website claims. "Along the way you wander through a virtual Members' Lobby, pop into a simulated Treasury and are summoned to a stunningly realistic digital Number 10."

"We're showing how you can engage audiences with new ideas through a medium they're comfortable with - computer games," claims Kam Memarzia, managing director of PlayGen, the company behind SeriousPolicy. "Young people are disengaged from politics. We can develop games that involve them in policy development or feed into actual public consultation."

Presumably, there are also bonus points if you manage to persuade Blair and Brown to stay in the same room for five minutes.

You can download the game for free from the Serious Policy website.

Author: Barry Collins