Lebanese Political Satire Game is Quickly Censored

Top Lebanese political figures battling in Street Fighter-inspired style?

Sounds fun.

But don't count on playing Douma (translation: "puppet") any time soon. The online game lasted only a day before authorities compelled its creator, known only as "Z.F.", to take it down. As reported by Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star:

Douma... was withdrawn on Friday morning because of "legality problems" The game, which was released on Thursday, had already become popular in the blogosphere - and with players across Lebanon - before its unexpected suspension.

Douma's designer Z.F. told the Daily Star:

We tried, with a medium we know [games], to give the people their given rights as citizens, to control the attitude and decisions of the politicians they elect ... We tried to find another way for the fans to relieve their anger.

Players could choose their combatants from among seven prominent political figures. An eighth announces each round by riding across the battleground on a moped. From the newspaper account:

Each zaim ("chief") has a special move with particularly devastating effects.

The Hajj Hassan character's secret weapon, for example, is a battery of Katyusha rockets, while Geagea's is a kneeling prayer that summons the crushing fist of "God."

Z.F. described his inspiration for the game:

My wife and I were trapped for five hours between Bwar and Safra and we couldn't get to work. So we sat on a bridge where young people were gathered holding stones and sticks - it was really an awful puppet show where the politicians are safe back in their castles pulling the strings of the people.

Z.F. is hopeful the game may return soon:

We are working on it, and fast, we're just looking for the right way to do it.