Mobile game promoting Chinese Communist Party gets massive response

Loyalty towards Communist Party and Xi Jinping is paramount in China.

New Delhi: Learning about politics and political parties can be a tad bit boring. But in China, it's all in the game. Targeting the youth of the country, a mobile game was launched two weeks back which encourages users to play their way past levels while also learning about the Chinese Communist Party and about Xi Jinping's ideals.

The game was expected to get 100,000 downloads in the initial weeks. It has 6 million downloads and counting.

According to a report published by the state-run Global Times, Journey to the East has been able to attract far more mobile phone users than was previously expected at the launch. And a majority of those who have downloaded and played the game are under the age of 33 - born in or after 1985.

So what is the game all about and what makes it this popular?

For starters, developers incorporated the CCP's history, its beliefs and principals into a game storyline with levels. Users need to play and then answer questions at each level. There are also real-life incentives for completing levels successfully - for example, users can get tickets to tourist spots and become part of adventure expeditions.

A member of the app-developing team was quoted in the report as saying that despite 'politics not quite being a young people thing', the game is being downloaded by many millennials. "My colleagues born in the 1990s told me that the product needs to impress them first if we want to attract young netizens. Youngsters don't like being spoon-fed," said Zhang, an employee of  Shandong Radio and Television responsible for app development. He goes on to add that the tremendous response was unexpected.

The game, therefore, is serving two purposes in a country where loyalty towards the party is paramount. Firstly, it connects with users - especially with the youth - and keeps them entertained. Secondly, it promotes the CCP's philosophy while not appearing to enforce it rigorously. Instead, the message is spread one finger tap at a time.