Uncle Slam and Uncle Slam Vice Squad (found iOS presidential boxing games; 2011)

The app's Icon.

Status: Found

Date found: Dec 2023

Found by: Anonymous

Uncle Slam - President vs President Boxing! was an iPhone boxing game that was released on December 16th, 2011. The game features the likenesses of United States Presidents taking forth in Gentlemen's Boxing in locations across the U.S. The game's description from the Uncle Slam website describes the game, saying:

"The spirit of patriotism has always been strong in America. The men who have been chosen to lead her throughout the years have embodied this spirit. But the time has now come to determine who among them embodies it the most. Choose your favourite president and fight your way to the top in Gentlemen's Boxing. The winner will take up the mantle of Uncle Slam and be the custodian of American patriotism for all time! Uncle Slam is a political boxing game for iOS. Using gesture-based fighting, Uncle Slam offers a fun and slightly crazy boxing experience to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch gamers!"

The app, developed by Handelabra Games, was their first project and premiered at PAX 2011. A free version of the game was also made later in 2012, called Uncle Slam Vice Squad, which features Vice Presidents instead of U.S. Presidents.

Gameplay

The game uses the touchscreen on Apple's devices, swiping and tapping at your opponent. You can punch, go for uppercuts and body shots, block, charge and retreat, and also use a special move that is original to every president. The game can be played solo against CPU, co-op, or CPU against CPU. The solo mode in the game features a campaign, where you travel across the U.S. as a selected president, boxing other presidents at their home locations to get to Uncle Slam. When boxing matches are beaten, you unlock "votes" for that president, and those votes can be redeemed to unlock special items for said president. A Hall of Presidents is also featured in the game, showing off concept art, new locations, famous speeches, and artwork of the presidents themselves.

Availability

The game was available for a couple of years on the App Store. As iOS evolved, however, Handelabra games stopped updating the game to work on bigger and better products. The game was last updated on July 1st, 2013. The Twitter page for the game stopped posting tweets in December of 2013. Eventually, the game was taken off the App Store, as well as Vice Squad, because of its incompatibility with newer Apple Devices. Both games are seen in your purchased feed on the App Store if they were previously downloaded, but they cannot be re-downloaded currently. Uncleslam.com has been down for a couple of years, shutting down sometime in early 2017, and the Uncle Slam page on Handelabra's website states that "Unfortunately, Uncle Slam and Uncle Slam Vice Squad are no longer available." When asked about Uncle Slam during a Twitch livestream, Handelabra Games said that they remember the game fondly, as it was the first game they had developed, but had no plans on a rerelease of the titles.

In December of 2023, a big leak of various Testflight IOS apps were found from a Testflight server that the Wayback Machine ended up archiving. Within the various apps that got found before Apple made archive.org blacklist the links were both Uncle Slam games making both now found.

Gallery

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  The opening screen of the game, featuring Gerald Ford and Franklin Pierce at the USS Atlanta. You can jump in on 1 side and become that President, or click "Fight Now!" and select the presidents and location.

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  The opening scene of a fight. Each president takes a turn listing off an iconic quote of theirs, while Columbia, the personification of America, stands in the ring. This fight includes George W. Bush going against Barack Obama at Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch.

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  Gerald Ford boxing John F. Kennedy at Liberty Bell. JFK is using his Special move, where he uses an Astronaut helmet for protection.

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  A screenshot of the campaign mode, featuring Bill Clinton travelling across the US to get to Uncle Slam in Washington D.C.

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  A screenshot of the Hall of Presidents, showing the biography of Thomas Jefferson. The bottom features the Unlockables, Fun Facts, and Statisics pages of the Hall of Presidents.

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  Al Gore boxing John C. Calhoun in Washington D.C. in Winter.

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  The locations of Uncle Slam Vice Squad.

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  The boxer selection screen, featuring busts of the selectable Vice Presidents.

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  John C. Calhoun about to box Dan Quayle during the 4th of July. Columbia is again seen, this time wearing glasses exclusive to Vice Squad.

Videos

Trailer.

Gameplay of both 1-on-1 fights and solo mode.

Game being shown off at PAX 2011.

The trailer and gameplay for Uncle Slam Vice Squad.

External Link

• Uncle Slam's page on Handelabra Games' website.
• Upload of both Uncle Slam and Uncle Slam Vice Squad.

References

• The first archive of Uncleslam.com from before the app's release. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• An archive of Uncleslam.com after the app's release. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• The first archive of the website after the release of Vice Squad. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• Uncle Slam's Twitter Page. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• A page on the app, including screenshots and game information. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• Handelabra's Blog for Uncle Slam. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• An article on Uncle Slam. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022
• Another article about Uncle Slam from Forbes. Retrieved 15 Apr 2022