A website has zeroed in on the road rage of South Africans by developing an online game that allows them to beat up the usual targets of their ire — minibus taxi drivers — and smash their vehicle to smithereens.
Players of Taxi Wars can choose from among five weapons — a fist, a paint can, a golf club, a screwdriver and the plastic vuvuzela used to trumpet support at football matches.
Armed with these, they can get even with the devil-may-care drivers of the ubiquitous 16-seater mini-vans.
Players can hammer the driver until he’s KO, smash his windows, burst his tyres and then sign their name to their handiwork with a touch of spray paint.
The minibus taxi is the transport of the masses in South Africa.
Notorious for their battered appearance, overcrowding and for the drivers’ disregard for the rules of the road, they are now the object of a government recapitalisation scheme aimed at weeding out unsafe vehicles.
The title of the game, Taxi Wars, is inspired by the all-too common turf wars between taxi companies, which regularly end in shootouts and the deaths of innocent bystanders.
The game was developed by online advertising agency iLogic for play65.co.za, a gaming website. — Sapa-dpa