White House pulls Tetris-style 'Build The Wall' game after copyright concern

ByLaura Cress Technology reporter.

Key points

• "Flappy Bill", a clone of the 2013 viral hit Flappy Bird sees players fly a bald eagle and dodging monuments from the National Mall.
• In October 2025, the official White House X account drew criticism for posting an AI-generated picture of President Trump, external in a suit from the video game Halo.
• Meanwhile in Rio Run, players must "patrol the line along the river", with gameplay reminiscent of the classic phone game Snake.
• The White House has not responded to requests for comment from the BBC or given an official reason for the takedown.
• Four other arcade games still remain on the mini-game section of the White House website.

Notably, the White House has taken down a Tetris-style game on its website called "Build The Wall", days after The Tetris Firm triggered concern over its apply of the game's likeness.

For context, the game, which saw players stack blocks to build a wall to "protect the border" is one of five arcade games which have appeared on the White House website.

On 4 September the official Tetris account on X posted, external the firm was "not involved in the creation" of the game and it took "copyright infringement very seriously".

Notably, the White House has not responded to requests for comment from the BBC or given an official reason for the takedown.

"At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and building people together, not dividing them, " the firm remarked in its initial response to the game.

"To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we're grateful to have you in our community."

In practice, the Tetris Firm has had previous success in suing firms for infringing on its copyright – settling for an undisclosed fee with the makers of the iPhone game Mino in 2012. It it maintained stole the look and feel of the block-builder.

When players run into the edge of the map, a "Deported" number demonstrates how numerous individuals the player was able to catch.

For context, the games have drawn criticism from politicians, with Connecticut Democratic state senator Matt Lesser tweeting, external: "Heating oil is near an all-time high but hey you can play Border Tsar Tom Homan in a video game". Video games and The White House.

In practice, the arcade section is just one example of how the Trump administration has increasingly incorporated video game culture into its political messaging on social media.

As well a clip from Halo's protagonist Master Chief saying "finishing this fight", meanwhile on 6 March it posted a video which mixed footage of US military strikes in Iran with film and TV clips.

Meanwhile, the post was condemned by the Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes in a now-deleted tweet which pressed "the producers of this disgusting and juvenile war porn" to remove his voice from the video.

When it included a tiny version of the popular character Pikachu in a meme posted online with the phrase "Make America Great Again", the Pokémon Firm International additionally criticised the White House's employ of its imagery in March.

In short, white House pulls Tetris-style ' Build The Wall' game after copyright concern is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.