HOW A $2 AMATEUR STEAM SHOOTER BECAME THE UNLIKELY BATTLEGROUND OF TRUMP’S THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT (AND WHY VALVE NUKE-DELETED IT)

Last weekend, Donald Trump survived his third reported assassination attempt. Let that sink in for a second. The chaos that followed didn't just make national headlines. It turned a forgotten, bargain-bin Steam game with three total reviews into a global political war zone, and Valve had to step in to clean up the mess. This is the kind of story that sounds made up, but every single detail is real. Are you kidding me right now?

The supposed attacker? A man named Cole Thomas Allen, who apparently listed "video game developer" on his LinkedIn profile. We say "apparently" because his only credit is a single amateur game released in 2018, which had two reviews at the time of initial reports. That game is called Bohrdom, and pre-attempt, it was the definition of irrelevant.

WHO IS COLE THOMAS ALLEN (AND WHY WAS HIS ONLY GAME A $2 ATOM SHOOTER?)

Let's break down the attacker's background first, since the press dug into it immediately after the attempt. Cole Thomas Allen sneaked into a gala dinner at a luxury hotel hosting White House correspondents. He opened fire, wounded a guard, and made it to the vicinity of the dinner tables before being arrested. Donald Trump and other high-profile attendees were evacuated precipitously during the incident.

Post-arrest, investigators scoured Allen's online presence. His LinkedIn profile claimed he was a video game developer. The proof? A single 2018 Steam release: Bohrdom, a $2 2D asymmetric shooter that plays like the free browser games you find on ad-heavy websites. No one is accusing this of being a AAA title.

Bohrdom's core premise is simple, if niche: you play as either an atom or an electron. It's asymmetric because the two roles have completely different abilities. Pick an atom, and you're a single powerful unit with strong shots and high durability. Pick an electron, and you're part of a swarm: weak individual shots, low health, but you outnumber the atoms. The game supports single-player and multiplayer modes, and cost exactly $2 at the time of the attempt.

Quality-wise? It's as amateur as they come. Initial reports noted just two user reviews for the game. A deeper check revealed it had only three total reviews across its eight years on Steam, plus a whopping two forum comments. Three reviews. In eight years. THREE. That is not a game with a fanbase. That is a game that no one cared about.

Let's put those review numbers in perspective. Three reviews in eight years. That means the game averaged less than one review every two years. Most Steam games get more reviews in their first week of early access than Bohrdom got in its entire lifespan. It's not a game. It's a digital paperweight. Are you kidding me right now?

STEAM USERS WEAPONIZE A DEAD GAME (AND SALES EXPLODE 100X)

Then the assassination attempt happened. And suddenly, Bohrdom was the hottest topic on Steam. Sales multiplied by 100 overnight — a 10,000% spike for a game that had barely sold a copy in years. But no one bought Bohrdom to play it. Not a single person.

Every purchase was made to signal support or opposition to Donald Trump on Steam. Users bought the $2 game just to leave reviews railing for or against the former president, or to insult people on the other side of the political aisle. The game's review count went from three total in eight years to over 200 reviews in days. For context: you have to own a game to leave a Steam review. That means over 200 people paid $2 each just to post a political take on a game they'd never play.

We've seen Steam review bombs before. Games get hit with negative reviews over developer controversies, price hikes, even server outages. But this is the first time we've seen a game get review-bombed by both sides of the political aisle at the same time, with zero connection to the game's actual content. The game is about atoms and electrons. ATOMS AND ELECTRONS. There is no political content in the game whatsoever. It's a physics-based shooter, not a campaign ad.

The forums were even worse. Steam forums don't require game ownership to post, so while the review count hit 200+, the Bohrdom forum blew up from two comments to 10 full pages of partisan garbage. Steam forums are already a swamp when you're just talking about games. Add political extremism to the mix, and it goes nuclear. Are you kidding me right now?

TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN: HOW STEAM’S RULES GOT WEAPONIZED (GRANDMA-FRIENDLY EDITION)

Steam's review system has one unbreakable rule: you must own a legitimate copy of a game to leave a review for it. Bought it, got it free in a legal promo, whatever — you need a license to the game to post a review. That's the only reason Bohrdom's review count spiked. Every single one of those 200+ post-attempt reviews represents a $2 purchase made solely to post a political message.

Forums work differently. Anyone with a free Steam account can post on a game's forum, no purchase required. That's why the Bohrdom forum, which had two comments total pre-attempt, exploded to 10 pages of posts overnight. No $2 barrier to entry, just an internet connection and a hot take.

Wondering what "asymmetric shooter" means? It's a fancy term for games where players don't have equal abilities. In Bohrdom, atoms are solo powerhouses, electrons are weak swarms. No CS degree required to understand that.

VALVE STEPS IN (AND WIPES EVERYTHING POST-ATTEMPT)

Valve, to its credit, did the most sensible thing possible. It halted all sales of Bohrdom, and deleted every single review and comment posted after the assassination attempt. No more partisan garbage cluttering the page. No more 200+ fake reviews. The game's page is effectively frozen in pre-attempt state, minus the ability to buy it.

Valve hasn't given an official reason for the move, but the speculation is straightforward. First: they don't want to be accused of profiting from a game made by a suspected terrorist. Second: they may have received a request from Cole Thomas Allen's legal representatives to take the game down. Third, and most chilling: they don't want Bohrdom sales to become a way to signal support for the assassination attempt. Buying the game would no longer be a political statement — it would be a show of support for political violence.

Valve's decision to delete post-attempt content is a massive, unprecedented move. They wiped every single review and comment posted after a specific date, regardless of content. That shows just how bad the spam had gotten. The Bohrdom page was unusable, buried under 10 pages of partisan fighting and fake reviews.

Either way, the move worked. The partisan spam is gone. The 200+ fake reviews are wiped. The only thing left is the 8-year history of a $2 game no one cared about, until it got caught in the crossfire of a national tragedy.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR DUMB INDIE GAME FROM BECOMING A POLITICAL FOOTBALL (ACTIONABLE TIPS)

• If you're a game developer, maybe don't commit violent crimes? Just a thought. 🔥
• Only list games on your LinkedIn that have more than three reviews in eight years. It looks better.
• Want to argue about politics? Use a dedicated platform, not the Steam page of a $2 atom shooter.
• Enable 2FA on your Steam account to keep randos from hijacking your game's page for partisan spam.
• If your game gets 200+ reviews overnight after years of inactivity? Something is very, very wrong.
• Remember: Steam forums are already toxic. Adding politics makes them 100x worse. Don't do it.

FINAL VERDICT

Let's recap the insanity here. A man with no game dev cred beyond a $2 2018 atom shooter sneaks into a White House correspondents' gala and opens fire, marking Trump's third assassination attempt. His forgotten game becomes a political battleground, with sales spiking 100x and 200+ fake reviews posted in days. Valve has to nuke the page to stop the spread of extremism. Are you kidding me right now?

Political extremism corrupts everything, even an innocent little game about atoms and electrons. That's the takeaway here. If a bottom-tier Steam shooter can get caught in this kind of crossfire, nothing is safe. We're living in a world where even a $2 2018 game about particle physics can become a battleground for partisan warfare. That's not just sad. It's terrifying.

Hit share if you think Valve did the right thing. Drop a comment with your hottest take. And for the love of god, enable 2FA on every account you own today. Don't let your $2 side project become the next partisan war zone. 🔥