What were the most controversial Flash games?

[Graeme]

What makes a game controversial is going to come down to individual user's definitions. But I am trying to think of games that offered a quality product AND possibly took things a little too far. There are 1000 games that are grotesque, pornographic, hyper violent, and more. But I think those ones shouldn't count. I'd rather think of games that had something to offer (whether that be artistically, or through gameplay) that made you want to keep playing them in spite of being uncomfortable or offensive.

Some that come to mind are Pico’s School, Ray, the entire Assassin series/craze, The Suicide Bomber Game, Dead baby dressup, Johnny rocketfingers, Frank’s adventure, Clubby the seal, Whack your boss, Little red riding ho, Pimp’s quest, and maybe even Don’t shit your pants?

I'm not confident all of those were controversial, and many were instead maybe just a little edgy. But I don't think I grew up seeking out the seediest, most over-the-top games. So I'm hoping that you guys can think of some more to share and discuss!

[Graeme]

I knew there had to be some sort of torture based game. There are so many silly versions of that concept, but I didn't know what to look up to find a darker, actually controversial one!

Kindergarten Killer is new to me! I knew about the Slaying of Sandy Hook game. That one was MUCH more intentional.

Thanks for sharing those!

[Edwin01]

That's easy, pico school

[Painbringer]

[FalenDemo5]

At 3/15/22 03:47 PM, Noodle wrote:What makes a game controversial is going to come down to individual user's definitions. But I am trying to think of games that offered a quality product AND possibly took things a little too far. There are 1000 games that are grotesque, pornographic, hyper violent, and more. But I think those ones shouldn't count. I'd rather think of games that had something to offer (whether that be artistically, or through gameplay) that made you want to keep playing them in spite of being uncomfortable or offensive.

Some that come to mind are Pico’s School, Ray, the entire Assassin series/craze, The Suicide Bomber Game, Dead baby dressup, Johnny rocketfingers, Frank’s adventure, Clubby the seal, Whack your boss, Little red riding ho, Pimp’s quest, and maybe even Don’t shit your pants?

I'm not confident all of those were controversial, and many were instead maybe just a little edgy. But I don't think I grew up seeking out the seediest, most over-the-top games. So I'm hoping that you guys can think of some more to share and discuss!

The thousand Bootleg Flash Games people like JonTronShow covered and that helicopter game created by a 15 year old that Newgrounds stopped from commiting arson.

[Phaox05]

I can only think about those "kill a celebrity" types, somes are so well organized (talking about the effort) so it looks with real gore and you don't know if the purpose is for the "hahas" or that person really hate that guy.

Also I remember about "the visitor" game a lot of youtubers made a video about it when it came out and how it had a lot of gore stuff.

[DefKlaw]

i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

if the subject were of controversial flash animations then i think i could name a few (and by that i mean 2)

[SecretBoxFox]

I remember there being a lot of “Punch Bush” games back in the day.

[Electrifier]

I mean Pico’s School is the obvious one

[Newgrounderrr222]

Pico's school is def an obvious one but id say alot of the games from early 2000s like the assasin games and the other sh#t about bin laden

[HU-C2680]

This masterpiece

[HU-C2680]

And this

[Graeme]

At 3/19/22 06:19 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

I don't think I've ever seen it!

https://youtu.be/cIdBc4p2noA

Thanks for the Newgrounds exposure Fox!

if the subject were of controversial flash animations then i think i could name a few (and by that i mean 2)

That'd open up quite the can of worms! While I am also curious about that, I think the amount of controversial animations at this point probably borders on too high to count haha

[Graeme]

At 3/19/22 09:40 PM, Hu-chibe2680 wrote:This masterpiece
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/547977

Based on my Newgrounds medals, apparently I played that one 12 years ago! This time I actually beat it haha

[DefKlaw]

At 3/20/22 01:32 PM, Noodle wrote:

At 3/19/22 06:19 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

I don't think I've ever seen it!
https://youtu.be/cIdBc4p2noA
Thanks for the Newgrounds exposure Fox!

if the subject were of controversial flash animations then i think i could name a few (and by that i mean 2)

That'd open up quite the can of worms! While I am also curious about that, I think the amount of controversial animations at this point probably borders on too high to count haha

the only controversial (i assume) animations i know of are the ones by jeff weise

[GearToward]

At 3/15/22 03:47 PM, Noodle wrote:What makes a game controversial is going to come down to individual user's definitions. But I am trying to think of games that offered a quality product AND possibly took things a little too far. There are 1000 games that are grotesque, pornographic, hyper violent, and more. But I think those ones shouldn't count. I'd rather think of games that had something to offer (whether that be artistically, or through gameplay) that made you want to keep playing them in spite of being uncomfortable or offensive.

Some that come to mind are Pico’s School, Ray, the entire Assassin series/craze, The Suicide Bomber Game, Dead baby dressup, Johnny rocketfingers, Frank’s adventure, Clubby the seal, Whack your boss, Little red riding ho, Pimp’s quest, and maybe even Don’t shit your pants?

I'm not confident all of those were controversial, and many were instead maybe just a little edgy. But I don't think I grew up seeking out the seediest, most over-the-top games. So I'm hoping that you guys can think of some more to share and discuss!

Wasnt there a flash game based on the sandy hook shooting?

[HU-C2680]

At 3/20/22 01:34 PM, Noodle wrote:

At 3/19/22 09:40 PM, Hu-chibe2680 wrote:This masterpiece
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/547977

Based on my Newgrounds medals, apparently I played that one 12 years ago! This time I actually beat it haha

good for you

[Kwing]

At 3/20/22 01:52 PM, NationalNeedleMouse wrote:Wasnt there a flash game based on the sandy hook shooting?

The Slaying of Sandy Hook by Pigpen. Tom removed it after backlash from the media even though he didn't want to. I believe the game is still available online, just not on Newgrounds.

[TecNoir]

At 3/20/22 01:40 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:

At 3/20/22 01:32 PM, Noodle wrote:

At 3/19/22 06:19 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

I don't think I've ever seen it!
https://youtu.be/cIdBc4p2noA
Thanks for the Newgrounds exposure Fox!

if the subject were of controversial flash animations then i think i could name a few (and by that i mean 2)

That'd open up quite the can of worms! While I am also curious about that, I think the amount of controversial animations at this point probably borders on too high to count haha

the only controversial (i assume) animations i know of are the ones by jeff weise

Oof yeah that was a spicy situation right?

[DefKlaw]

At 3/21/22 10:55 AM, TecNoir wrote:

At 3/20/22 01:40 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:

At 3/20/22 01:32 PM, Noodle wrote:

At 3/19/22 06:19 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

I don't think I've ever seen it!
https://youtu.be/cIdBc4p2noA
Thanks for the Newgrounds exposure Fox!

if the subject were of controversial flash animations then i think i could name a few (and by that i mean 2)

That'd open up quite the can of worms! While I am also curious about that, I think the amount of controversial animations at this point probably borders on too high to count haha

the only controversial (i assume) animations i know of are the ones by jeff weise

Oof yeah that was a spicy situation right?

yeah pretty much

[TomFulp]

At 3/20/22 01:32 PM, Noodle wrote:

At 3/19/22 06:19 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

I don't think I've ever seen it!
https://youtu.be/cIdBc4p2noA
Thanks for the Newgrounds exposure Fox!

All this time I thought Fox was pro-torture.

[ninjamuffin99]

At 3/20/22 01:32 PM, Noodle wrote:

At 3/19/22 06:19 PM, DamonZomboid wrote:i cant really think of many controversial flash games. someone said the torture game 2 and to be honest the fox news report about that game is my favourite fucking news fail.

I don't think I've ever seen it!
https://youtu.be/cIdBc4p2noA
Thanks for the Newgrounds exposure Fox!

Child experts worried about the game's potential impact on kids, will it make impressionable youngsters numb to torture?

nah bruh torture stil gon hurt 💀💀

[slowfreq]

I'm also gonna submit my vote for V-Tech Rampage as the most controversial flash game I can think of. I very very vaguely remember that game causing a lot of controversy at the time.

[Dreamcastian-Turnip]

gangsta mario bros, someone died in it

[Gimmick]

At 3/21/22 10:11 AM, Kwing wrote:

At 3/20/22 01:52 PM, NationalNeedleMouse wrote:Wasnt there a flash game based on the sandy hook shooting?

The Slaying of Sandy Hook by Pigpen. Tom removed it after backlash from the media even though he didn't want to. I believe the game is still available online, just not on Newgrounds.

Another one: Punch Anita Sarkeesian

It had to be removed by Tom because of the media backlash as well.

[Kwing]

At 3/28/22 03:42 PM, FireTower wrote:What exactly happened in it?

It simulates the Sandy Hook shooting with you as the active shooter, then scores you at the end based on how many casualties you cause. You can also replay with two additional modes, one where gun control laws are in place (the shooter is unable to access the AR-15 and uses a katana instead) and another where the teachers are armed. The moral the game tries to make is that with proper gun control, fewer people would die (the game is harder with a katana) and that with armed teachers, more people would die (when teachers are armed, students don't evacuate, and teachers hesitate to shoot you making it paradoxically easier to score kills.)

Midway through the game you get to hear a rap song written by Ryan which essentially echoes all of the political talking points the game is trying to make. The game also features a short monologue by Ryan about his experience with gun violence growing up in Texas and juxtaposes it with the gun control laws (and lack of shootings) in Australia (where he lives currently.)

[DaRealGamerFox]

At 3/15/22 07:44 PM, neurolich wrote:The Torture Game 2 comes to mind when thinking of controversial flash games. Due to it allowing you to upload a replacement for the default face on the character, the game got coverage from Fox News, NBC and any other notable news outlet as a result of that in conjunction with its depiction of gore and violence.

Let's also not forget Kindergarten Killer, which became a topic of hot water a decade after its release due to the Sandy Hook school shooting. And although Tom himself scrubbed that game off of Newgrounds following the bad pass, it's still kicking around of other websites which still host .SWF games... and even as a curiosity thing, playing it now just gives off the "has not aged well" vibes like most of these old flash relics typically do.

I'll always respect this game though, as it was where I was first exposed to The Prodigy.

Just watched the Fox News one am laughing rn XD.

[Spaggo]

I remember whack your boss. it got a sequel but i cant remember the name

[Spaggo]

That one game tom fulp himself cracked down on (just now seeing its been said already)

[BlueMonday1984]

Its been said here before, but I'm putting in Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian as my answer.

Whipping up a bog-standard game about assaulting [Insert Public Figure Here] is one thing, making one about a public figure who made the news for getting death/rape threats and getting nuked by Tom Fulp due to the subsequent media backlash is a whole other matter.

Judging by the 2.26 rating it had at the time of its death, chances are it was going to either end up getting blammed anyways or pass judgment by the skin of its teeth.

(That it got booted by Fulp himself probably helped fan the flames - it doesn't say much good about your game if even Newgrounds censors it.)