Colonial Themes

First off, I am no expert in this field. I am a person trying to be more aware and engaged with how my upbringing has affected my view of the world. I am by no means the only designer interested or contributing to this issue. That said, here follows some thoughts on the matter.

So. You’re sat down with some friends playing some Terraforming Mars, Scythe, or maybe Eclipse. You’ve worked out your best strategy and how to enact it, you’re hoping that other players don’t spot your intentions so that you can grab that resource or take over that area first. This tension between planning and adapting makes for fun, frustrating and ultimately memorable experiences with friends. I’ve had plenty of them myself. However, there’s something else going on underneath the surface level enjoyment.

The last thing I want to be is preachy, so I’ll talk from my own experience.

My partner Jessie teaches Lindy Hop. She’s white. She grew up in south Wales to middle class parents. She has struggled with the idea of being in the position of teaching a black, african american dance form. She still does. To her credit she does a lot to educate her community about the history and culture of swing era dances, and does her best to pass on the core ideals of its creators. Many people don’t see this as important. Many people do.

I’m white. I grew up in mid Wales to middle class parents. I used to be in the camp of “so long as it’s not harming anyone, surely it’s fine”, but over time I’ve come to understand how much damage can be done by merely perpetuating the status quo. The problem is, if your actions are in fact causing harm, and you simply aren’t aware of it, that’s not good enough. Sure, I don’t think it’s fair to attribute blame to lack of knowledge, there is after all so much to be aware of and to be sensitive to. However, once you have become aware of a harmful action, to continue to act that way would be, by any reasonable analysis, classed as ignorant.

The journey that Jessie has been on and continues to be on, and that I have joined her on, has had a massive impact on how I view the world. I have always considered myself a sensitive guy, fairly knowledgeable, a mediator, culturally aware. I still consider myself to be those things. Again though, problem is, what you don’t know, you don’t know. And as individuals, sometimes the things that we don’t know, especially if they clash with our sense of the world, can make us quite defensive. I’ve experienced this multiple times, pushed back against ideas that I thought were being overly sensitive or just unnecessary. I’ve definitely found it difficult to step outside of my point of view to the extent that was required in order to gain broader understanding.

With this in mind, I’ll bring it back to board games.

You may have picked up already that I’m a big fan of stories, and how stories affect us. I am of the mind that the colonial theme in board games is a narrative that is perpetuating harmful ideas. This probably isn’t a super popular idea, but I believe it to be true. It may not be the most harmful form of the narrative, but there’s little denying its existence. On the face of it, it can seem innocuous, after all we’re only playing the game, creating a settlement in a new land is something beyond (most of) our common, current experience. But to attribute points, and victory, to these actions is almost celebrating the idea of conquest. Colonising an area and suppressing the locals is almost unilaterally agreed as an egregious course of action, quite rightly so. So why do we have so many games that reflect these ideas as being desirable?

You can find more detail and examples of colonialism in board games in this excellent article by Luke Winkie for The Atlantic. If you are yet unsure on the topic, I would encourage you to read Luke’s article to the end.

I’m not about to go on a crusade and demand that all board games with colonial themes be burned and their creators hunted down and tried in court. Equally however, what I am not going to do, is pursue the creation of games that have colonial themes. And there are many great examples of board games out there that don’t contain colonial attitudes, and a few that contain anti-colonial attitudes.

I’m not claiming to now be an expert on this topic, far from it. I’m just a person on a path of understanding, and realising that there is so much more to the path than I ever thought possible. How deep our cultural rifts are can only be matched by our willingness to learn and to respect each others realities, to practice compassion. I’m choosing to practice my compassion through telling stories with my games that, although won’t reflect everyone’s experience (it’s also not my place to be an expert on all cultures), but that hopefully don’t suggest that the western colonial experience is the only experience worth sharing.

As ever, if you feel moved to respond, in whatever way, leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Benjie x