A new adventure game was launched online on Thursday (Oct. 31) with the aim of increasing public understanding of President Tsai Ing-wen’s ((蔡英文) governance and policies and inspiring support for her re-election in January 2020.
Presidential Palace Adventure (full name: What?! I, a Taiwanese third-year high schooler from Class 2, suddenly fell into a different world and met the president?!) is the first adventure game in the history of Taiwan to be launched as part of a campaign. The trailer for the game, which dropped last week, garnered almost 110,000 views before the game's release.
Players take the role of Taiwanese high schoolers participating in the Presidential Office’s off-campus activities. Through a freak combination of factors, the adventure begins with characters that include Xiang-xiang (想想), A-Tzai (阿才), the school principal, and an almost unrecognizable President Tsai.
The interactive non-linear game comprises vibrant imagery, stimulating CGI animation, and hidden Easter eggs. The length of each level is 20 minutes, and there are many sub-plots and paths to take. However, if the player chooses a wrong path, it will be game over and they must restart. Tsai’s campaign team urges players to save their game progress regularly.
Spokespeople for Tsai's presidential campaign, Yen Jo-fang (顏若芳), and Liao Tai-hsiang (廖泰翔) yesterday morning held a press conference to announce that Xiao Ing Daily, the social community section of the official campaign website, is now up and running. Presidential Palace Adventure was launched at 3 p.m. yesterday as part of the new platform.
Yen said that as a component of the official campaign website, the main purpose of Xiao Ing Daily is to integrate all of the Tsai campaign's social content as a kind of one-stop shop for her supporters.
Xiao Ing Daily also includes an “English Ing-wen” option where netizens have the opportunity to watch video lessons given by Tsai on English vocabulary related to defense, diplomacy, and folklore. Additionally, there is an “Ing-wen quiz” where players can get feedback relevant to their responses from “Ing-wen teacher,” a pun on the fact that Tsai’s name and “English” are the same characters in Chinese.
Liao cited as an example the film “Taiwanese Foods and their Origin,” which was shot with Tsai. It is available on the website alongside recipes so that all of Tsai’s “spicy” supporters can make their favorite Taiwanese dishes at home with local produce.
The website also has an interactive Consequences-like activity which calls on netizens to contribute their own short stories and articles and vote on the most interesting and engaging ones. In this way, they can collectively steer the story in a relaxing and humorous direction, according to Apple Daily.
Liao said that the anime gaming industry has gradually got rid of the stigma of the past. Last year, the entire gaming industry in Taiwan was valued at nearly NT$58 billion (US$1.9 billion).
Presidential Palace Adventure was created by a young team of ten whose capabilities include animation, music, design, illustration, planning, media, and other fields. It collaborated with Tsai’s re-election campaign team to bring the game’s concept to fruition.
Yen stated that due to its high playability, it is the sort of game players will want to “play to the end.”
