Tourists walking past the DC War Memorial on Monday found something stranger than another protest sign or banner. Sitting beneath the monument were three working arcade machines inviting the public to play a satirical video game in which a pixelated Donald Trump wages war with Iran.
The installation, titled 'Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell,' was created by the anonymous activist art collective 'The Secret Handshake,' the same group behind recent anti-Trump guerrilla displays on the National Mall, including a gold toilet sculpture and installations referencing Trump's past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
This latest project, reported by The Washington Post, is sharper, more elaborate and considerably more pointed. It treats modern warfare not as geopolitical strategy but as spectacle, branding and internet performance.
'Just Pure Pixelated Patriotism'
The game's title riffs on 'Operation Epic Fury,' the military campaign launched earlier this year targeting Iranian missile infrastructure and naval assets. According to the artists, the work was partly inspired by how the Trump administration promoted military action online using heavily stylised videos that blended real bombing footage with aesthetics borrowed from franchises such as Call of Duty and Halo.
But there are no shootings or guns in the game as the creators' intent is to keep the game free from violence.
Also, the game is available to play online.
That crossover between warfare and entertainment culture became central to the installation's message.
Mounted on the arcade cabinets are reproductions of Trump's Truth Social posts, explosion graphics and cartoon depictions of administration officials, including an exaggerated rendering of Vice President JD Vance that references online memes surrounding him.
A plaque accompanying the machines reads like a parody of military propaganda.
'Introducing ... a high octane, flag waving, boots on the ground simulator where freedom isn't debated, it's deployed,' the text says. 'No briefings, no hesitation, just pure pixelated patriotism.'
The satire lands because it mirrors the visual language already dominating political communication online. What makes the project difficult to dismiss as simple prank art is how closely it echoes the administration's own digital instincts.
Inside The Game's Strange Political Universe
The game itself borrows the look of a 16-bit Japanese role-playing game. Players control a pixelated Trump character who launches military action against Iran, collects oil barrels, and navigates absurd side quests involving administration officials.
At one point, players help Trump locate a Big Mac. Another mission involves Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking players to recover a vial of measles. The game also includes jokes about FBI Director Kash Patel and recurring internet mockery aimed at Vance.
The only guaranteed losing scenario comes when players attempt to hold First Lady Melania Trump's hand.
At the start of the game, players are asked, 'Ready to ROCK Iran back to the Stone Ages?' The line references Trump's own social media rhetoric earlier this year threatening to send Iranian targets 'back to the Stone Ages where they belong.'
The available responses are 'Not Yet ...', 'Yes' and 'Hell Yes.'
More than 14,000 people reportedly played the game online within hours of launch. The creators also stressed that the game intentionally avoids gunplay or shooting mechanics despite its military theme.
Protest Art Has Become Increasingly Interactive
Secret Handshake has spent the past year turning the National Mall into an unofficial gallery of anti-Trump interventionism. The collective operates anonymously and reportedly uses intermediaries to secure permits from the National Park Service.
Its projects have become more ambitious as Trump's second presidency intensifies political polarisation in Washington. Yet this installation stands apart because it moves beyond static imagery into participation.
That distinction matters.
Matthew Thomas Payne, a professor who studies video game history and political messaging, told The Washington Post, argued that games occupy a unique place in modern propaganda because players actively participate in the narrative rather than passively consuming it.
'You're the one that's walking around finding the Big Macs,' he said. 'You're the one engaging in a war of words.'
That interactivity, Payne suggested, creates emotional involvement in ways television speeches or social media clips often cannot.
On Monday morning, reactions at the memorial reflected the country's wider political exhaustion. Some visitors shook their heads and walked away. Others stopped to play.
