Boardgames and orientalism
Apr. 14th, 2019 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
myrdschaemHere are some thoughts about two articles I found on twitter and read.
A recent article on Vice showcases the board game proposal "Scramble for Africa", which was taken out of the production pipeline because the game concept is, in general, major Y i k e s. The article is more indepth, but you could basically play as colonisers in Africa, slave labor was implicit but for enough money players could organise (temporary) slave uprisings. Players win by colonising most of Africa.
I winced when I read that, but sadly those tropes are not really rare in boardgames. I am geeky and have some interest in boardgames(which means I only have 10 - 20, so not that many :P) but as I grew older, language, setting and objetive have given me pause or stopped me from purchasing. Part of that is definitely my education in japanese culture - and you cannot study this, especially in the west, without also learning and reflecting about Orientalism.
Exotic settings and trappings are sadly very common in board games. The vice article linked an essay by a french, white boardgame designer which gives a good overview just how many different cultures are often used as trappings for boardgame entertainment. He identifies both variants of orientalism as well as historical exoticism as common. One thing I thought interesting is that while european boardgame creators often use these, american designers are more likely to use fantasy settings with orcs etc. I think that difference derives from different audiences. In Northamerica boardgames seem to be still more of a geeky niche activity, while boardgames in europe are intended for all ages and grandparents will not necessarily understand a fantasy setting but are well versed in the orientalistic cliches.
The later part also talks about why boardgames are prone to using different cultures or times as their setting: "When playing a game, most of the player’s energy is spent in trying to use the rules, the game systems, in order to win. The thematic setting of the game must not detract from “the game itself”, meaning from aiming at victory. (...) The setting must therefore be extremely simple, and must be known by the players before the game even starts. In good novels and movies, the storyline is used to explain the meaning of a complex theme. In good games, the light theme is here to help the players create the story."
In summary, board games are not telling a story, rather the setting is the vehicle for the game mechanic. They are unable to flesh this out without detracting from gameplay, so often cliches and stereotypes are leveraged to make the game more vibrant without lengthy exposition. This is probably why another popular theme for games, especially aimed at younger participants, are animals or nature in general. It is assumed that people understand how, for example, a bee hive operates - it consists of a queen, workers and drones, they all have specific functions etc. In my own perception, the animal themes are also more ubiquous in games for younger participants because they may not have learned the orientalist cliches and tropes of the historic/exotic settings yet.
So what about board games then? Both linked articles noted that while these tropes exist it doesn't mean that boardgames that about historical and/or foreign settings can't be made. There are several games mentioned in both articles that take on different approaches to it and that I want to check out: This Guilty Land, Freedom: The Underground Railroad and Pax Pamir all sound fascinating. Bruno Faidutti also features games by Korean and Japanese developers with their own takes. This is great because I definitely felt hurting for critical options last time I visited a toy store for boardgames.
At the end, I want to bring forth an example of a game I played and liked. It has a historical setting and centers around executions. It's also wicked fun. That's right, it's Guillotine. I have only played this once, but it's a hoot. Set during the French revolution players try to get points by executing the most reviled royals. Prominent historial figures have their own cards, like Marie Antoinette or Maximilien Robespierre. You get your own paper guillotine too! In concept, this game is as far away from "proper" as you can get, but because it is punching up instead of down, it works just splendid. I hope publishers can embrace this sort of game play instead of prototypes about colonising Africa in the future.
.
A recent article on Vice showcases the board game proposal "Scramble for Africa", which was taken out of the production pipeline because the game concept is, in general, major Y i k e s. The article is more indepth, but you could basically play as colonisers in Africa, slave labor was implicit but for enough money players could organise (temporary) slave uprisings. Players win by colonising most of Africa.
I winced when I read that, but sadly those tropes are not really rare in boardgames. I am geeky and have some interest in boardgames(which means I only have 10 - 20, so not that many :P) but as I grew older, language, setting and objetive have given me pause or stopped me from purchasing. Part of that is definitely my education in japanese culture - and you cannot study this, especially in the west, without also learning and reflecting about Orientalism.
Exotic settings and trappings are sadly very common in board games. The vice article linked an essay by a french, white boardgame designer which gives a good overview just how many different cultures are often used as trappings for boardgame entertainment. He identifies both variants of orientalism as well as historical exoticism as common. One thing I thought interesting is that while european boardgame creators often use these, american designers are more likely to use fantasy settings with orcs etc. I think that difference derives from different audiences. In Northamerica boardgames seem to be still more of a geeky niche activity, while boardgames in europe are intended for all ages and grandparents will not necessarily understand a fantasy setting but are well versed in the orientalistic cliches.
The later part also talks about why boardgames are prone to using different cultures or times as their setting: "When playing a game, most of the player’s energy is spent in trying to use the rules, the game systems, in order to win. The thematic setting of the game must not detract from “the game itself”, meaning from aiming at victory. (...) The setting must therefore be extremely simple, and must be known by the players before the game even starts. In good novels and movies, the storyline is used to explain the meaning of a complex theme. In good games, the light theme is here to help the players create the story."
In summary, board games are not telling a story, rather the setting is the vehicle for the game mechanic. They are unable to flesh this out without detracting from gameplay, so often cliches and stereotypes are leveraged to make the game more vibrant without lengthy exposition. This is probably why another popular theme for games, especially aimed at younger participants, are animals or nature in general. It is assumed that people understand how, for example, a bee hive operates - it consists of a queen, workers and drones, they all have specific functions etc. In my own perception, the animal themes are also more ubiquous in games for younger participants because they may not have learned the orientalist cliches and tropes of the historic/exotic settings yet.
So what about board games then? Both linked articles noted that while these tropes exist it doesn't mean that boardgames that about historical and/or foreign settings can't be made. There are several games mentioned in both articles that take on different approaches to it and that I want to check out: This Guilty Land, Freedom: The Underground Railroad and Pax Pamir all sound fascinating. Bruno Faidutti also features games by Korean and Japanese developers with their own takes. This is great because I definitely felt hurting for critical options last time I visited a toy store for boardgames.
At the end, I want to bring forth an example of a game I played and liked. It has a historical setting and centers around executions. It's also wicked fun. That's right, it's Guillotine. I have only played this once, but it's a hoot. Set during the French revolution players try to get points by executing the most reviled royals. Prominent historial figures have their own cards, like Marie Antoinette or Maximilien Robespierre. You get your own paper guillotine too! In concept, this game is as far away from "proper" as you can get, but because it is punching up instead of down, it works just splendid. I hope publishers can embrace this sort of game play instead of prototypes about colonising Africa in the future.
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no subject
Date: 2019-04-14 04:52 pm (UTC)Guillotine sounds like fun ^^
Good to hear from you btw, I hope you're doing well :)
no subject
Date: 2019-04-14 07:22 pm (UTC)Honestly, who doesn't like gleeful beheadings of royals? Especially in the current climate I am all for it. :D
Thanks. I had a slip down in mental health, as one is wont to do now and then. But I also struggle with journaling bc I never really used journals when they were really at their height and lurked. I had an LJ and maybe two fics or so on it. I got a dreamwidth ages ago as well, but I rarely actually opened up. An accurate image of me:
In the aftermath of tumblr crumbling apart, several people I interact with on twitter and discord have revitalised their journals, so here I am, four months late. I am active on twitter and discord and I am eyeing pillowfort and am wondering how that will end up. But it doesn't hurt to give journaling another shot, bc I don't think pillowfort will be massively different, even with reblog function. Rn it seems poised a the offspring of journals and tumblr. Let's see how that goes.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-17 01:05 pm (UTC)I pretty much only passively interact with people on Tumblr/Twitter, so I'm very glad when people come/"back" to DW :) I'm glad now that I got into journaling when LJ was still bigger, that probably made it easier to get used to it. Though every once in a while I still have to actively remind myself that being too shy and worrying too much what people think of me is silly. (Doesn't always work, but I try.)
no subject
Date: 2019-04-17 05:27 pm (UTC)