Bus Hostage by Policeman main screen.

Bus Hostage by Policeman is a 2010 satirical but controversial whac-a-mole Flash game developed by Bari Silvestre of Keybol Games and was published on Newgrounds. The game was based on the August 2010 Manila hostage crisis. It was widely criticized for its poor build quality as well as being insensitive to the subject matter.

The game is no longer available in Newgrounds, however, it has been unofficially reuploaded in other Flash platforms.

On August 23, 2010, former PNP officer Rolando Mendoza hijacked a tourist bus in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines, and took its passengers hostage. The 11-hour incident ended in the deaths of Mendoza and eight Hong Kong foreigners with several others injured.

Keybol Games (then known simply as "keybol") released Bus Hostage By Policeman in Newgrounds barely three hours after the incident.^[1] It was criticized for being buggy and having terrible gameplay. However, it was widely criticized for being insensitive to the subject matter and for being released "too soon" after the incident.^[2][3]

Bari Silvestre explained the release of the game on his website that it was a means by which he sought to express how he felt about the hostage crisis. He also stated that "people will always find a way to vent. That was [his] way, and now [he] gets hate comments everywhere".^[1]

The release of the game has also been exposed to Hong Kong media.^[4]

The game on Newgrounds has since been replaced by a satirical notice claiming the game has been censored by the government through Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. The game was self-censored as an act of protest by the developer to the then-unpublished law,^[5] which was controversial due to the application of the Philippine's libel law on the internet.

Years after the game's release, Silvestre notes the game as one of his proud accomplishments,^[6] notably for "getting the lowest score possible out of a featured game on Newgrounds".^[5]

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  Screenshots from the game.

1. Flash game of Quirino hostage crisis released. August 24, 2010 at 12:59AM. TJ Dimacali, GMANews.TV. GMA News. Retrieved on 2025-01-04.
2. Game about hostage-taking draws flak. August 24, 2010 at 3:39 PM, updated at 4:39 PM. abs-cbnNEWS.com. ABS CBN News. Retrieved on 2025-01-04.
3. Flash Game Based on Filipino Bus Tragedy Getting Ripped. August 25, 2010. GamePolitics.com team. GamePolitics.com. Retrieved on 2025-01-04.
4. 隔牆有耳：冷血射警 game被鬧爆. August 25, 2010. Apple Next Digital author. Apple Next Digital (Hong Kong). Retrieved on 2025-01-04.
5. Which of your Flash game creations are you most proud of? (forum thread). January 29, 2013. DarrylJReid, keybol,. FGL.com forums. Retrieved on 2025-01-04.
6. Spotlight: Keybol Games. September 19, 2013. ggjmanila. Manila Game Jam blog. Retrieved on 2024-08-05.