If you’ve been anywhere near Twitter this week, there’s only one thing everyone’s talking about; the Suez Canal ship.
It took six long days of futile attempts to budge the Ever Given, but now it’s finally free! However, it didn’t take the internet long to put a humorous spin on the cargo ship’s unfortunate blockage.
It’s been one of the biggest talking points online this week, and the internet was rife with memes surrounding the Ever Given. Whether it was comparing the stuck ship to COVID-19 anxiety or literally editing Godzilla and King Kong fighting on top of it, Twitter had it all.
the situation in the Suez Canal has escalated pic.twitter.com/a5UVNmuGe7
— James Grebey (@jgrebes) March 25, 2021
But one Twitter user decided to go the extra mile and create a game aptly-named as Suez Canal Bulldozer (which you can play here).
Its creator, Eric Wilder, wanted to create a game which captured the “gargantuan” task of trying to free the Ever Given from the banks of the Suez Canal.
Inspired by original Pokemon graphics, the game has five buttons; the four direction arrows and ‘J’ for action. But no matter what you try, the same error message pops up each time with the phrase “it’s super stuck”
Wilder, who designed the game in two hours, found on Wednesday (March 24) that the game had amassed 38,000 views and 10,000 game plays since he launched it just a few days before.
He told PA news agency: “I saw a number of memes going around featuring the boat and bulldozer and thought it was so funny. I knew I could spin it into quick game – I’ve taken up retro game development as a pandemic hobby.”
Idk why I made this. But you can play it here: https://t.co/pqcbnChoP5 pic.twitter.com/Gi8QifnvN1
— Eric C. Wilder (@Eric_C_Wilder) March 26, 2021
Now the ship’s free Wilder added: “Perhaps… I’ll update the game with a new version where you can set the boat on its way.”
But despite the memes and the games, there are some serious repercussions of the block. Not only has it cost the global economy billions, but cargo ships carrying livestock faced starvation.
It’s hard to tell what will be the long-term repercussions of the stagnant ship, but at least the internet had its fun.
Content Writer and freelance journalist with an MA in Creative Writing. Passionate about films, books and general media.
