The tense, often bloody relationship between Chinese law enforcement and street vendors has led to the creation of a free downloadable game inspired by that confrontational environment.
Hawker War City Management appears to be the name of the title, and, according to a piece on the game on TheWorld.org website, the downloadable title features plenty of social commentary, designed to highlight the plight of common citizens “left outside in the cold as China’s economy grows.”
Correspondent Mary Kay Magistad offered this description of the game:
You have this virtual person who goes into a barren field where there are vendors who are trying to sell their wares. A little girl comes up to you and says, we hear that the law enforcers are coming, we need your help. We’ll help you fight them. Please fight them. So, you have to kill the city law enforcers as they come or they will kill you. And you kill the first one then you get money to be able to buy the support of the vendors who are behind you.
Different vendors cost different amounts depending on their abilities to help you. So you get one who basically can just kill officials at short distance, he’s pretty cheap. You get a laid-off worker, he’s one of the more expensive ones because he’s really angry and he’s got a lot of strength and he can kill enemies at a distance.
Magistad said the title had caught the eye of Chinese censors, making it difficult to find and download, but the game can be found right here.
A story appearing on Sohu.com (translated) indicates that a recent confrontation between Urban Management officials and vendors in Zhengzhou City resulted in a clash that saw three law enforcement officials overturned and traffic snarled for over an hour.
Video of Hawker War City Management game play can be viewed here.
