The hashtag MufflerMan was started as a dig at Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and his favourite accessory, a muffler, during the 49 days he was Delhi’s chief minister. That affront, long embraced by the party and turned into a marketing tool, is back before the next Delhi Assembly elections.
A group of AAP volunteers from the Indian Institute of Technology have collaborated with an app development company to create a game around the adventures of the Muffler Man.
The game, available on android platform, pitches the player as Muffler Man who is fighting graft while trying to advance through levels symbolising common problems like electricity and women’s safety.
Playing the game involves collecting funds and raising support for Muffler Man’s crusade against corruption. And the support comes in the form of party’s symbols and memorabilia, which allow the game’s hero to bounce higher and skip levels.
Around the general elections last year, India had witnessed a wave of apps pegged on politics.
The Muffler Man game is not officially promoted by AAP but is an initiative of its volunteers and a team of developers that goes by the name of Digital Agents. Mohit Ramani a member of the app development team, told Scroll.in that the team was approached by party volunteers.
“We tried to do something different this time and the best way to leverage the MufflerMan hashtag was to make a game where every player can be the hero,” Ramani said. “There are lots of messages in the game which identify with the party’s ideology.”
A group of AAP volunteers from the Indian Institute of Technology have collaborated with an app development company to create a game around the adventures of the Muffler Man.
The game, available on android platform, pitches the player as Muffler Man who is fighting graft while trying to advance through levels symbolising common problems like electricity and women’s safety.
Playing the game involves collecting funds and raising support for Muffler Man’s crusade against corruption. And the support comes in the form of party’s symbols and memorabilia, which allow the game’s hero to bounce higher and skip levels.
Around the general elections last year, India had witnessed a wave of apps pegged on politics.
The Muffler Man game is not officially promoted by AAP but is an initiative of its volunteers and a team of developers that goes by the name of Digital Agents. Mohit Ramani a member of the app development team, told Scroll.in that the team was approached by party volunteers.
“We tried to do something different this time and the best way to leverage the MufflerMan hashtag was to make a game where every player can be the hero,” Ramani said. “There are lots of messages in the game which identify with the party’s ideology.”
Along the hero’s way, there are some pitfalls. “Corruption, bribery and scam platforms will bring you down,” Ramani said. He added that the application, about two days old, has already crossed 500 downloads and is likely to “get more popular as (more) people discover it”.
The game is available for download for free. It is poised to come on other platforms like Windows and Apple iOS soon.
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