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Trump’s Anti-Immigration Talk Is Inspiring iPhone Games

Games like "Trump Flappy Hair” and “Dump on Trump” are fun as well as cathartic for some voters.
A screencap of Trumpealo.

Late last fall, an app designed to block news about Donald Trump debuted. Now as his presidential campaign forges on into 2016, small time developers are turning their efforts to Trump-inspired games: Dump on Trump, Trumpealo, and Trump Flappy Hair. There's even Derrota a Trump, Spanish for "defeat Trump."

Many of the apps seem inspired by the infamous and inflammatory comments Trump has made about Latin American immigrants, specifically Mexican Americans. Many of them have over 10,000 downloads and reviews of over three out of five stars, with comments left in English and Spanish. "A good way to throw something at Donald Dump's face!!! I hope I can knock off that fake hair…" wrote one player. "Omg thank u so much for letting me take a dump on trump," wrote another.

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Trumpealo features Trump standing on stage in front of a poncho-and-sombrero-wearing crowd while saying derogatory things about Latinos. Once his speech is over, users get to throw objects like chihuahuas, cacti, bowling balls, empty liquor bottles, and even shoes at Trump's head until he collapses. He's revived if users accidentally throw flowers or money.

Luz Gonzalez, a 27-year-old software engineer from Houston, was in between jobs when he noticed the media flame war over Trump's presidential campaign. He also saw a picture online where Trump's hair flipped over in one piece during a windy day, which then made people question whether his hair was real or not.

A screencap from Dump on Trump.

After a few weeks of getting an artist to design a Trump head, developing and coding, and making scores shareable on social media, Gonzalez had a fully functional game complete with levels.

Just like Flappy Bird, users tap on their screens to keep flying. In this version, Trump's head must flap around and avoid Democratic and Republican candidates, their podiums, or the floor. Make it through the various levels and Trump makes it to his goal; the White House.

Gonzalez thinks other aspects of Trump's campaign are fodder for game inspiration.

"I thought his presidential ad was pretty funny…Almost sounds like a Grand Theft Auto radio commercial," he said via email.

In the Dump on Trump app, users get to throw an emoji-like swirl of feces on Trump's head by calculating when he'll be under an open pipe and the time it takes for the poop to make it to his head. Crapping on his hair becomes increasingly difficult as wind velocity picks up and its direction randomly changes. It has 4.4 out of 5 stars, and over 300 reviews.

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Michael Hart, a full-time college student from San Diego who identifies as Salvadoran, created Dump on Trump after feeling insulted by Trump's anti-immigration comments.

A screencap from Trump Flappy Hair.

"I think I felt a lot of frustration at hearing the 'they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists' line, which is probably what motivated me to incorporate those audio clips into the game," he said in an email. "This was my way to let out some of that frustration and at the same time make something that others could enjoy."

Hart was shocked at how well-reviewed his game is; he was expecting a lot of backlash from Trump supporters and had even prepared his inbox for hate mail. He has received a small amount of negative reviews, which he has responded to by reminding those users that it's just a game.

"It all just goes to remind me how many people feel the same way about Trump," he said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Luz Gonzalez is male.