An iPhone application where the aim is to kill off islanders has been criticised as racist by members of the Pacific Island community.

Pocket God opens with a “meet the islanders” screen, before brown-skinned men wearing hula skirts are shown on an island with a volcano in the background.

To score points, the player kills off each islander by drowning them in the sea, shooting them with lightning or burning them in the volcano.

A blogger on Spasifikmag.com said: “This game is very racist, yes. But what I can’t get over is people finding joy out of killing people … It’s really scary to think that people – and most likely young people – can use the game to torture and kill.”

Karlo Mila-Schaaf, a Tongan currently studying for a PhD in sociology, said the game was offensive and degrading. “Virtual torture of Pacific Islanders is where I draw the line.

The makers of the product say that it doesn’t represent any race or nationality.

“But it is fairly clear that these supposedly non-human islanders with their brown skin, grass skirts and Easter Island statues in the background are not aliens from outer space.”

 

Created by Bolt Creative – based in California, San Francisco – the application costs US$0.99 cents and has proved popular.

click for (pop up) video: Is Silicon Valley Losing Its Magic?

Thanks to the big picture for the pointer