Following Saturday night’s apparent attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC, alleged shooter Cole Tomas Allen, due to be charged later today, was revealed to have described himself as an independent games developer, with a single game available on Steam. In the hours that followed, Bohrdom‘s store page gained 134 new reviews on top of the three it had received prior to the shooting attempt, most of which are memes, gags or politically fueled complaints. As of this morning, the game’s store page remains on Steam, but it has now been withdrawn from sale.
Bohrdom released to almost no attention at all in 2018. The game, it’s name a pun on Danish theoretical physicist Niels Bohr, was ostensibly about the interaction of electrons and neutrons within atoms, described as a somehow “non-violent asymmetrical fighting game” and “a hybrid of a bullet hell and a racing game.” The highest number of simultaneous players it received prior to this weekend was two, and it received just two reviews at the time, both of which read sarcastically. It’s fair to say it wasn’t a success. (Although Allen did describe it as “successfully launched” on his LinkedIn page, which is technically true.) That’s no great indictment on the game—which perhaps could have been extraordinary!—but like 99 percent of games released on Steam every day, it passed completely under the radar. What’s true either way is that the 134 reviews it’s received in the last 36 hours aren’t particularly helpful for anyone hoping to learn more.
If you’re hoping for at least a wealth of wit as people reacted to the dramatic news out of Washington—where Allen shot a security guard in his failed attempt to enter the White House Correspondents’ dinner armed with two guns and an array of knives—you’re going to be disappointed. The vast majority are tired, lazy attempts at ironic exclamations of “GAMES GONE WOKE!” or sad little attempts to gain kudos on 4chan. But what’s perhaps far more revealing of America in 2026 is that the faux rating has come out as “Mixed,” with a near 50:50 split of positive and negative grades.
You’ve got those expressing disappointment at a man’s failed attempt at mass murder (Allen’s note to his family suggests his intent wasn’t simply to kill Trump, but as many others around him as he could, including members of the press should it be “absolutely necessary”), others using the game’s assumed poor quality as an allegory for Allen himself, and many more gloating at his arrest and failure. Oh, and so, so many people attempting puns based on the game “being a miss.” (And naturally, because Steam is full of Nazis, there’s the usual range of racism and antisemitism.)
Actually, there is one exception. Someone genuinely played and commented: “forced ******* tutorial that pauses the game all the time its impossible to shoot anything in this game.” Gotta love that guy.
No explanation has been added to the store page for the game’s withdrawal from sale, but common sense suggests Valve wouldn’t want to be seen making money from the handful of sales the $2 game was receiving, nor providing Allen with income following the events.
