The District of Columbia War Memorial has been transformed into a game room thanks to the anonymous protest art collective “The Secret Handshake,” who have installed several art pieces around the District in recent months.
Inside the marble memorial are three arcade-style video game cabinets. But they’re not the classic Pac-Man or Mortal Kombat games. Instead, “Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell” is a role-playing game where you can play as President Donald Trump, with dialogue options quoting his actual posts on Truth Social.
Instead of addressing Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, like in much of their previous work, this installation was inspired by the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Derrick Epps, who stopped by with his wife and rode their bikes from Northeast D.C. to play the game, said 鈥渢he characters that you fight on the first level are angry terrorists.鈥�
鈥淭he second level was schoolgirls. The third level was the Pope,鈥� Epps said. 鈥淵ou had to do pushups with Robert Kennedy to beat one of the Iranian people.鈥�
While in Mario Bros. mushrooms give you power, in Operation Epic Furious, you use Diet Cokes and Big Macs as power-ups.
There were a lot of people trying their luck at the game, including tourists like Kay Tye, who thought it was “hilarious.”
鈥淪ort of a sight to see video games up in these pillars,鈥� Tye said. 鈥淚’m honestly astonished that they’re up and that no consequences have befallen those who created this game.鈥�
Tye鈥檚 favorite part of the game was the reference to Kid Rock’s helicopter, and she said the installation proves 鈥渇ree speech is still active.鈥�
Nicole, who drove from Takoma Park to see the video game display, said she鈥檚 a fan of the Secret Handshake.
鈥淚f you use the magic setting, you can heal his bone spurs,鈥� Nicole said of Trump’s 8-bit character.
Nearly every person who walked up the marble steps to see the trio of games walked away laughing.
鈥淚 think it’s important to laugh about the current events and stuff, because they can feel heavy,鈥� said tourist Jianna Cressy.
Epps, who is a former D.C. Public School teacher, found a different purpose for the game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good educational piece in a time where satire and comedy and things can go over a lot of people’s heads,鈥� Epps said. “That’s actually a really good thinking game.鈥�
While it’s unclear how long the physical games will be up at the memorial, the Secret Handshake has made
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