User:NorwayStorm/sandbox

Endgame: Syria is a trading card based newsgame developed by GameTheNews.net, a project looking to turn news into games. It launched on the 12 December 2012 and claimed to be the first ever attempt to cover an ongoing conflict in the form of a video game. It attracted a range of responses from the positive to critical. The game places the player in the role of coordinating the rebel side of the Syrian civil war where they have to decide the political and military choices faced in resolving the conflict.

Gameplay
The game is a Trading card game where each turn is divided into a political and military phase. In each phase may impact on the player (and the regime's) level of support. If either side loses its support, the game is over. The game can also end in a peace deal between the sides.

Apple submission controversy
The game was rejected by Apple's App Store citing App Store guidelines forbidding games that “solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity”. This sparked debate over both the rules of the App Store and the appropriateness of the form in covering war.

Russia Today featured a report on Apple's refusal to publish the game agreeing with the decision citing the game as "unethical" and "only on one side" as there is only an ability to play as the rebels and not as the government. They also considered it to be factually inaccurate as the game features Russia as supporting the government despite "statements coming from the foreign ministry that Russia does not take any side in this conflict."