Jakarta attacks smartphone game Tumpas Teroris lets children show they are not afraid of terrorists

Indonesia's National Police have endorsed a smartphone game that lets children relive the January 14 attacks in Jakarta.

Players of Tumpas Teroris, which translates as Annihilate Terrorists, fire their slingshots at Afif, the black-capped militant who blew himself up outside the Starbucks on Jalan Thamrin.

I am not scared, but I am angry they did a cowardly act.

They are cowards and they made Indonesia unstable and no longer safe.

Adji Pratama, creator of Tumpas Teroris

If players' fingers are quick enough, they can rise through all seven levels of the game, which are set at various prominent areas of Jakarta like the Hotel Indonesia roundabout and the National Monument (Monas).

"It's among the ways we are trying to make children more aware of terrorism," said National Police spokesman General Anton Charliyan.

The app is available for free for Android-based phones, and there is a companion app that lets players report any suspicious activities that might be related to terrorism.

Developer Adji Pratama said it took him three days to build the game after the January 14 attacks.

"It was a safe and tolerant country but because they committed terror action they disturbed the peace in Indonesia," he said.

"Frankly I am not scared, but I am angry they did a cowardly act.

"They are cowards and they made Indonesia unstable and no longer safe."

He said that playing Tumpas Teroris, which is recommended for children three and older, was a good way for children to show terrorists that they were not afraid.

"I would like to convey a message that we can beat those terrorists," he said.

"They may be able kill two, three or four of us, but we can beat them.

"We can punish them using existing laws and they'll lose in the end if we all stay together, united — then there will be no place for terrorists."

The ABC recruited some Jakarta children to test the game.

"It was exciting — it was good to shoot the terrorists," said nine-year-old Adam Renno Syaputra.

"It was very good," said eight-year-old Flaviano Melkyano.

"I used the catapults to attack the terrorists. They died."

Adji Pratama is a socially-minded game developer, who has already had success with another game with a message.

Haze lets players extinguish the deliberately lit forest fires that blanket the archipelago each dry season.

Source: Jakarta attacks smartphone game Tumpas Teroris lets children show they are not afraid of terrorists