Andrew Yang may be best known right now for his $1,000 per month Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal, and his message may be reaching gamers in a new way. A new fan-made game from Sam Vallely features the Democratic presidential candidate in his very own fighting game called Yang 2020: Path to Presidency, which sees him take on political opponents, podcast hosts, and even current US president Donald Trump.
Yang 2020: Path to Presidency is set to release on Steam on December 30. The game was built with cel-shaded graphics, and features a number of locations and people that Yang has interacted with over the course of his campaign so far. The facial animations in the game look very similar to the art style of Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama, which is a nice touch, and some of the attacks in the game are clearly inspired by Toriyama's work as well. At the end of the Yang 2020: Path to Presidency trailer, we see him unleash a Kamehameha-like blast called the "Freedom Dividend" - the name given to his UBI proposal.
The trailer highlights some of the opponents Yang will face on his journey. They include political rivals Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker, as well as podcast host Joe Rogan. There will also be a boss fight against Donald Trump in the White House, which may very well be the final battle in the game, though that hasn't been clarified.
The boss fight against Donald Trump appears to have some other references added in, specifically regarding his controversial comments about video game violence. It seems likely that the other battles throughout the game will see similar easter eggs for those who follow politics, as well as video game and anime fans.
The Andrew Yang fighting game may seem pretty bizarre to some, but this isn't even the first time that a politician has had a video game made about them. There are a number of fan-made Donald Trump video games out there, and there was even a successfully-funded Kickstarter campaign to make a Bernie Sanders RPG. As the 2020 election heats up next year, it wouldn't be surprising to see even more politicians wind up with fan-made video games about them.
Yang 2020: Path to Presidency will be available for PC on December 30.