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Hot Dog Bush (right-click the game and select the Play
command if it does not start automatically) is a Flash game in which the player (as George W. Bush) prepares and serves various food items to customers from a hot dog cart; it is thus best described as a cooking or restaurant simulation game. The AddictingGames page for Hot Dog Bush lists its release date as 2 December 2007, and I remember rather clearly that I first played it back when Bush was still president; hence I most likely stumbled upon it sometime in 2008, though I cannot remember anymore on which Web site I discovered it (the most probable ones are either AddictingGames, Miniclip, Kongregate, or the 2DPlay Web site).
The gameplay itself can be fast-paced and fun enough, but, like most other Flash games, it is a short, casual experience with very little replay value. The early levels are very easy, and even after gradual increases in difficulty the final levels are still not particularly challenging and easily completed even on the first attempt. I remember that I was able to beat the entire game during my initial playthrough back in the late 2000s, and as a consequence I don't believe I returned to playing it more than once or twice afterwards.
Today what I have come to appreciate more about Hot Dog Bush is its overall lighthearted and humorous tone. The game's premise is that George W. Bush has been fired from his position as president of the United States, and has now turned to selling food from a hot dog cart in New York City in order to make a living; while it has no bearing whatever on gameplay (Bush himself does not even appear in-game outside of menus and cutscenes), it is nevertheless an amusing little backstory. Though the game's author(s) likely did not view Bush very favorably, they still managed to satirize him in a very playful manner, which keeps the general mood of the game light and fun—there is even a very funny and lighthearted bonus stage in which Bush is abducted by aliens who threaten to destroy the Earth unless he is able to satisfy their appetites for junk food. Hot Dog Bush is very much a product of a more innocent and easygoing time, back when politics and political discussion online were—at least when compared to today—far less tense and pervasive, and it truly makes me miss the days when, for instance, the United States president could be portrayed in a harmlessly silly manner in a pleasant little Flash game on the Internet without drawing outrage from one or another humorless group of people.
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This page last modified on 21 August 2021.