Colonialism - The Board Game Struggle
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- #boardgames #review
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Correction: In the video I say I did an MRes in post colonial literature. That's true! I also never finished it. There was meant to be on-screen text stating that, adding a touch of light hearted humour to the scene. That on screen text accidentaly disappeared in the edit.
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Fantastic video. As someone from Latin America, this is such an unbelievably difficult topic to bring up in wider board gaming discussions and it does affect the way I feel about a lot of these games. I can't help but feel uncomfortable with playing them. Thank you for this
Great video, thank you!
As an Afrikaans South African, colonialism has always been a tricky subject to process since it led to the birth of my culture and anti-colonial arguments sometimes make me feel like I'm not a South African even though I've never been to a European country in my life.
Regardless of my personal identity discomfort, I realise that the issue of colonialism is far greater than that. Living in a space that is almost entirely "post-colonial" and seeing the scars of our past every day has made me more aware of this and filled in the gaps that I used to have the privilege of ignoring.
I understand that some board games want to stay true to history and ignoring the evils that come with that also doesn't seem useful (referring to that slavery footnote). Even so, simplifying these struggles into mechanisms seems disrespectful and unnecessary.
My hope is that board game designers will realise that understanding issues like this will make them better designers. I feel like we're missing out on an incredible array of settings, themes, user stories and emotions by focusing our design spotlight on colonialism or the perspective of the "superpowers" involved.
The games we play shape who we are and form part of our culture. I don't think this means we should "cancel" games about colonialism, but I will certainly think twice before buying them or at least try to understand the setting a bit better (from all perspectives) before blindly claiming hexes.
Thanks again for the great video!
*end of rant*
Efka, don't leave board games alone. Keep engaging with them critically and helping the hobby grow!
Absolutely love it. Such a relief to see this movement toward adulthood in our hobby. Amazing how much we still cater to the angry adolescent boy's temprement, no matter how old he gets. THoughtful, insightful, informative, fascinating. Efka and Elaine you two are very wonderful.
Agreed.
Not just in boardgaming, depressingly.
Dude, Efka, mate, this is the sort of thoughtful piece that keeps me coming back. Keep pushing the boundaries and I'll keep watching. This kind of maturity in analysis is needed and a welcome change from the norm. If this is a legitimate hobby for adults, then we should demand more adult criticism. Some of your best work, thank you very much. In a post Covid world, I'd love to sit down over a game and have a few beers.
Get in line!
Disagree. It's just a boardgame.
I am loving the chunkier, analytical and meaningful episodes. They're so much more impactful when set in a real context. Making and playing board games is serious work and I love how you are educating us on it! Thanks to you and Elaine for all you do!
Games are political. It isn't just set-dressing. Efka, don't leave games alone. This video is tremendous.
tic-tac-toe... or the hegelian dialectics of master-slave?
Thank you, Efka.
I'm Russian born in Latvia (if it makes sense). It took me years to shift perspective on expansion and colonialism. In a Russian school I've been taught that Latvia was liberated by Soviet forces from Nazis and Forest Brothers (partisans) were German collaborators. When Latvia got independence my parents and I (who were born in Latvia) were called occupants and stripped of citizenship.
Took me 10 years in UK to see it from different point. However, when this point is presented by media of western countries it feels hypocritical at least, considering history.
Geopolitics is a mess, but it's important to talk about it, to prevent injustice and find closure.
That's an interesting way of framing it. Those who arrived after Soviet occupation in 1940 and their descendants were not automatically granted citizenship. If you could pass a Latvian language and history exam you would be granted citizenship. Two thirds of Russians in Latvia (which includes immigrants post independence) have citizenship. Residency was still permitted, even if the only reason a Russian had a right to live there was because of Soviet theft of property from Latvians. That's fairly lenient towards a group of people that were being systematically encouraged to move in to make you a minority in your own lands (as happened in many parts of the USSR). We also should acknowledge the centuries of Russification attempts (ethnic cleansing), deliberate genocides under the USSR (and their handshaking with the Nazis to annex it in the first place), and weaponization of the Russian language post collapse (like invading multiple neighbors over allegedly "protecting Russian speakers").
Time matters on these things. Saying the West is hypocritical on this ignores this fact. It also ignores the fact that Russia continues to be a revanchist power that wants to reestablish and expand its former empire and has invaded multiple countries to do so. Western countries aren't looking to reestablish their colonial empires. They accept and acknowledge it's wrong. Russia, and by and large its people, do not as evidenced by their imperialist war in Ukraine.
'Western countries aren't looking to re-establish colonial empires'? I have to point you to what happened in the 20th century and on into the 21st century with the Gulf wars, Cuba, Afghanistan, Iraq, Falkland Islands, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, many parts of South America and Africa, and now Palestine to say this is simply not true I'm afraid.
The West has just learned to do it more covertly via support of proxy wars, the CIA and the support of pro-US dictators, as exemplified by the tactics of prime imperialist Henry Kissenger.
Efka, great Job here. This is a hard subject to disscuss and I think with your background story and game knowledge you did it very well to put context in the boardgame sceneario. We as part of this hobby should be aware of this and I think the hard part is finding the right way to adress the Colonialism Issue without taking away what we al love from our games. Thank you for giving voice to countries/people that usually get ignored or downgraded in our hobby, I have more than once feel very unconfortable when my own Country is downgraded or simple put as a less or a part of a colonial power.
I enjoy this video a lot and I have seen a part of the colonial effect in our boardgame community when I tried to looked for African themed or scenario based. I was expecting that with such a big and rich enviroment there would be tons of games to dig and love but what I find out was that there were not many and there were almost all about colonial issues. The sad part was discovering that there were more games about plants than a big vibrant and colorful CONTINENT.
Efke I had no idea you were Lithuanian! My grandparents emigrated to Australia from Lithuania after WW2, and I didn't know most of the history that you spoke of in the first part of your video. Brilliant stuff.
Same here! my grandparents emigrated to Uruguay before WW1... As an argentinean today, i have no conection whatsoever to Lithuania, except my last name... Dambrauskas
@@Erethakbe Amazing isn't it - you can pick a Lithuanian surname a mile away!
@@TheMork yea, carrot man is a very lithuanian surname
Thanks for doing this man! Living on a reserve in Canada, all of the intergenerational trauma and fucked up identity confusion had really done a number and it's stuff like this that can get us moving forward together and doing something integrative, as opposed to fighting over who's going to get paved over.
This was a wonderful piece of work. Makes me proud to be a Patreon supporter. Your passion for, and hopes for the future of, the hobby came through loud and clear.
Thank you for your support!
Fantastic video. I love discussions about the concept of board games instead of just focusing on gaming in general. Thank you!
Just got to the part about slavery in Endeavor, and highly highlly recommend playing it and the slavery rules.
As a an african-american, ai found it relieving to see it acknowledged and not just as a footnote. Slavery is a viable strategy and is rampant throughout the game. There are harsh penalities for it and it fits.
What i don't want is puerto rico where they white wash history and call slaves colonists.
Thank you! Your comment was a breath of fresh air!
I have a black friend in my board gaming group, and when this was on kickstarter I had to ask him about it. It made him really uneasy thinking about being in a room of white guys trading slaves. I decided not to back it.
@@Quesoeighty Thank you for that story!
@@ConsoleCowboy I think it's important to understand the effect that those kinds of games have though. Does it not change your view of history if board games always put you in the seat of the king, and abstract away the suffering that the king causes? Not every game has to be a peasant misery simulator, but maybe it would be good if the historical reality was acknowledged as part of the mechanics.
@@ConsoleCowboy yes, no pun included is going to pick and choose what part of history and it's atrocities they are passionate about obviously. As far as I see it they have in essence put it in themselves to play the role of the board game thought police - fueled by passion and a "higher learning" in the guise of altruism. If this measuring stick is used in all aspects of board gaming this hobby is not going to be a fun one to be in. People are all ready asking questions if certain games should be allowed to be printed because they didn't hold 100 percent accurate to the subject matter - which in turn is translated as an act of white supremacy or wilful disrespect. It's bonkers.
This was a great video...and an important reminder about things too easily glossed over or ignored for the purpose of a cardboard experience. Thank you.
The map is an arena for you and your rivals to duke it out, and if none of them control a place, then it's an "empty" space that you can easily claim. Push your pieces out to cover the map! Make your numbers go up! Get stronger than your rivals and Win the Game!
We might say that colonialism and its descendants treat the world like a game, and that's one reason so many games echo it.
Board games without colonialism are like video games without shooting or killing; Yes, there ARE great games without it, BUT it's much harder to design and make good and popular.
Comes in expecting boardgames, leaves with PHD in Lithuanian history. Keep up the great content!
Wow, nigdy nie sądziłem że ktoś będzie mówił o historii Polski na zagranicznym kanale z grami planszowymi. (Wow, I have never thought that someone will be talking about polish history on foreign channel with board games' content)
I'm sorry I missed this the first time around. Thank you for calling attention to this. Hearing your first hand experience and how to approach these sensitive topics without a dismissive attitude is absolutely inspiring.
Awesome video. I'm from Puerto Rico and own a copy of Puerto Rico. Whenever i get ask the question about what's the game about from someone who hasn't played it my description is something like "its a game of taking brown people from the ships and making them work on our fields and factories, whoever exploits more points from them wins the game 🙂".
Theme is problematic, especially for a country that has been a colony for more than 500yrs and is still a colony in plain 21st century. Is a good game, though, and am willing to play any time, but always making sure everyone knows what we're supposed to be doing in it. If it's too much for any of the friends, i have plenty of other good games to play, if not we just enjoy the game for what it is (mechanically) and not necessarily for the actions or history being portrayed.
About Phil Eklund: In a footnote in the manual for 'Greenland' he defends the position that because Danish Vikings were in Greenland before the Inuit it are "actually the Danes who can claim to be suppressed 'Native Americans', because Greenland is a part of North America". So according to this reasoning, Danes may have colonized Greenland since the 18th century and forcibly converted Inuit to Chistianity, forced them to speak Danish and send their children away to boarding schools and foster families in Denmark, but somehow the Danes are the victims of colonialism here.
Yeah, Phil, sure.
Thank you for bringing this voice to the table. I hope more chime in.
This hits rough with the current Ukrainian situation 😔
Colonialism in board games is rough. I appreciate things like John Company, Pax Pamir, COIN, etc. that depict these situations with their complexities. I don't know that every game has to always engage with it, but I appreciate those that do. I don't have anything against occasional romanticisation of history (I enjoy some knights of the round, swashbuckling, etc.), but I don't think that should be the default perspective. Because history often isn't pretty or romantic 😟
Like. Even 18xx. I love those games, but I always have the abuse of the rail workers and the land this tracks were built on in the US, at least, in the back of my mind when playing them.
Also, Cole Whorle has cut all ties with Phil Ecklund and never wanted that article in the first edition in the first place...so one can definitely make an argument that he made a mistake by publishing at all, but I would hesitate to let that single mistake define him or his game (which makes a very different statement in play) unless he has shown no repentance, change, etc.
I have been feeling a lot like playing "this war of mine" since the Gaza situation, it's a sad thing that it takes basically a day, but i think it's a really good way to engage with the complexity and random misery of civilians in war.
I feel like I'm being preached too, but I don't know the outcome of that sermon. Is it "Don't engage in historical themes without constantly apologizing for ebb and flow of empires that has happened since the dawn of time"? Is the offense that we have created a theme park out of war and conquering?
Thanks Efka for the excellent video. I agree that conversations such as this deserves attention by the gaming community and your video captures many of my thoughts as well.
My family was deeply impacted by colonialism in Korea, and as such I also have uneasiness when it comes to colonialism depicted in board games. I remember observing debates couple years ago on BGG about Rising Sun as it used the rising sun symbol as victory point in the game. Many commented saying the use of symbol is okay since the symbol has been used Japanese history prior to its colonialism, and also it's play on the game title "Rising Sun", and also the game is more about feudal Japan and is not about Imperialism. Yet, when I look at the symbol, it completely removes me from the game and only thing I can think of are the atrocities my grandparents experienced under the rule of the said flag. I'm not trying to re-open the debate on whether CMON should or should not have used the symbol, I am merely trying to point out that colonialism had such impact to a point where it turns an avid board game fan like me to be turned off of a game about feudal Japan and Japanese folklore just because of a symbol of choice happen to match the symbolism Japan used during their Colonial era.
I am also not trying to say that use of such symbols should be banned from games, but what I am trying to say is that we should encourage more discussions and learn from each other's perspective - which was the take away I got from this video.
Thanks again for the video :)
What a fantastic video! Bloody well done, Efka! Might be my favorite one from NPI yet.
From all the videos that I've seen from NPI, this is, by far, the best. And probably also, the best boardgame video that I've ever seen. It's a truly nice work that brings us really interesting questions and discussions. Wonderful and brave job, please keep doing this 👏🏼
As a small publisher I found your thoughts very intriguing. Especially when you clearly state the difference between “depiction” and “simulation”.
There is abundance of literature on how simulation enforces behaviour differently than depiction. its core components: (action mechanisms and reward) trigger priming effects and desensitization, which ultimately affect how we perceive the world outside of the simulation. Depiction does the same in a certain way: so the movie “Gladiator” is more about a certain stoic masculine vibe of being a soldier and the necessity of it… and much less about “depicting” the life in the Coloseum. It represents a feedback loop that a cultural enviroment was moralizing. A depiction with empathy is, as well, a simulation.
The use of violence in videogames evolved within this knowledge: the game mechanisms punish the player for committing violence in GTA San Andreas in a non destructive way for the completion of the game -> conversely it permanently affect how boring your gameplay gets in Red Dead Redeption 2 if you only act with malevolence. And player may want more challange, but they never want more boredom. Was a clever evolution of the Rockstar’s simulation style.
On this line of thoughts, themeing a “strategy” game about depriving nations of their economies moralizes the act itself: power and control is gained by the most clever and not the most brutal. Similarly I studied Napoleon as a brilliant strategist and not as the coward that escaped from its men in Russia.
Let’s just think about “Kriegspiel” and how little modern wargames evolved from it in the qualities of their simulations. We still want to be the clever Napoleon and not the coward one. Our simulations of war speaks about the first one (even if we enact the “good guys”).
As you rightfully state, the evolution of those games existed (of course) but relied on pure mechanical sofistication.
Fortunately/unfortunately simulations are powerful in both directions: they enforce behaviors and opinions in the real life, regardless of their morality.
Games, as simulations, are A-moral in this sense and the job of the publisher is also to remove the extra A with more clever use of the medium of simulation.
Ultimately your video triggered my interest in the last days. Even if I knew about the concept of postcolonial theory already, I realized for the first time the void of postcolonial work in the game industry.
Is much less about enacting a new “Kriegsspiel” taking the side of the natives but more about what happens to a group of communicating humans when their language is deprived of its referents, or how the destruction of a building is not only a passage from bricks to dust, but is leaving behind “cultural redundancy”, i.e. set of practices that are no more possible because they depended from the material culture that was pulverized. Rarely we came across to these games (the rpg Dialect maybe?)
someone else has other ideas?
Thanks for your thoughtfull comment, it's really appreciated.
Thank you so much for this video, Efka. I can tell it was difficult, but I think just about everyone can learn from engaging in this discussion.
Excellent video, thank you so much for talking about this and raising awareness about these very problematic and prevalent topics
One of the best video essays I think I've seen; truly incredible and thought-provoking. Well done.
I'm a new subscriber (and patron) working my way through NPI's library, and while I've LOVED all the videos, this is the first that compelled me to comment. This was fascinating and sobering and important. Thank you so much.
Thank you, that is a very kind thing to say.
Thank you, Efka. This is so needed after all that brouhaha of late on board game Twitter, what we needed and what you did was some education. I appreciate your approach with this food for thought. You were not merely saying you are against something but you did something. As a person of color (this issue is huge), this is such an important topic for me to see someone giving a thoughtful response from your experience, yes, but as you say could be extrapolated to us all. Thank you for a thought-out, measured response and not something just off the cuff.
Brilliantly done, Efka. So many amazing points brought up and in such a well thought out manner. Thank you so much!
Efka, thank you for helping me look a little deeper. You videos continue to educate and inspire me!
The music is Beethoven's Ecossaise in Eb major (woo 86), just in case someone wanted to know.
Greetings from Iceland. We are oh so proud of being the first ones to recognize Lithuania still to this day. You mentioned that we might be the only country not colonized, and I have to agree and disagree at the same time. We might not have been colonized, occupied and settled by Norway and Denmark, but we were controlled and neglected. Iceland stagnated under foreign rule and the strict ecomomy hampered, but we were never put into slavery or received huge influx of Danish or Norwegian settlers. Therefore relating to the struggles of colonized peoples is difficult. We were just a distant backwater afterthought that only had its time to shine after our independence. We try to make our small light shine and be the forefront of recognizing injustice, promoting peace, be forward thinking and try to be an example to the world. One of the biggest minorities in Iceland are Lithuanians and we’re better for it, I hope the relations of our countries will never falter.
I watch your videos with my partner and this one moved me to leave my own comment. I have lost a beloved writing teacher A J Budrys (science fiction author who held a captain's commission in the Free Lithuanian Army) so you are now my favourite living Lithuanian. I appreciate the care you took here with defining the place from which you speak. Also showing how your skillshare course on lighting made a difference was helpful as specific examples help my non theoretical brain. Long may they support your terrific channel, and very best to you and Elaine!
Thank you Efka for this video. I learned a bunch of stuff and hope be more sensitive to the topic in the future. My respect, this is a must watch.
Very interesting video.
A friend sent it to me, as I'm currently designing a game set in the history of humanity through the centuries, but I want it to have a wider and inquiring view about how we understand the idea of "progress", and this video gave me some valuable insights.
Hope I can address these issues properly in the game!
This was the most remarkable game review video I've ever seen. The bravery this took to put out is staggering. Thank you for this Efka. Brilliantly stated and (as the grandchild of Litvaki Jews) I thank you for your wonderful summation of the history of one of my ancestral nations... Poland and Germany also on that list, though as all my ancestors for at least the last 5 centuries were jews, I suspect they were viewed as outsiders even in their homelands. And as a member of the most colonized group in recorded history, I can absolutely vouch for the strength of how important the written word is to the survival of a people. I have long wanted to make a game about the Shoah... the Holocaust, one that explores, like Twilight Imperium, the acts of the righteous to help get jews to safety, one where the game itself represents the nazis so that no player strives to inflict evil... but there is such... even as a jew whose great grandparents survived the camps, there is a fear that my people will see the gamification as an affront to the memory of those who died... and that, I think is a major problem with creating post-colonial games... how do you make something fun that doesn't offend. Freedom: The Underground Railroad game is fantastic, but even it struggles with that
Have you seen Brenda Romero's "Train"?
@@gorsh7870 I have. a powerful statement and argument for the idea that games can be art.
Brave and stunning... Brave and stunning......
This was an amazing video, Efka. Wow. Thank you so much. Also, I know you are a board game channel, but I would totally watch videos where you discuss literary topics.
All the good things folks have already said. Also, thank you for discussing the distinction between theme and setting.
I love this channel more and more. Great work, Efka. As a Scottish person I understand colonialism intimately. My cultural heritage was denied to me by an education system designed in England. Scots dialects have been systematically sidelined to the point even many Scottish people refer to them as "slang". We suffer a democratic deficit in Scotland, down in Westminster. And, our right to self-determination has been poisoned, in the case of the 2014 Independence Referendum when powerful colonial forces in politics and the media ran interference resulting in a No vote, and in our fight for a second chance to take our independence. There's some faint hope on the horizon, but it's going to be a hard fight. And, even if we succeed, there will be a long way to go. But, in time, Scotland's distinctive cultural and ethical outlook will eventually find it's place in the world when we take our independence.
My solidarity extends to all who suffer from past colonialism and from modern neo-colonialism. Many of whom have it much worse than us here in Scotland.
And, of course, it is worth mentioning that Scotland has its own cross to bear when it comes to the country's own colonial "adventures" in the past. The Darian Scheme for instance, which itself in large part precipitated our present predicament.
I appreciated your potted history of Lithuania's troubles at the hands of colonialists. And as ever, your thoughts on board games were fascinating and enlightening. Thanks.
Very insightful and thought-provoking. Keep up the excellent work.
Iceland was indeed uninhabited when the Viking settlers arrived, but later on the King of Norway annexed the island and it remained under Scandinavian control until world War Two.
Thank You for the Education! I see games with a different light now.
Beautiful video! Thank you so much…Nothing is ever “just a game/joke/what-have-you”
Brilliant video. One of your best, and I've followed chan for a while. Very well crafted and presented ideas. Bravo efka!
I'd never really considered it a great deal in the context of boardgames, so thanks for such a thought provoking piece.
It does seem slightly incongruous that publishers and developers on one hand make the argument that "depiction doesn't equal endorsement" then, on the other, award you victory points for the thing they're not endorsing.
Holy shit, hands down the best boardgame related video I‘ve seen (and I watched ALL of SU&SD)... SUCH a powerful message, so well delivered. Massive props for all the work that must have gone into creating this!
I've never been a fan of your videos in the past, I think it was something about your style of humor. But after watching this video, I'm subscribing to your channel so I can see more of your content. Thank you for this incredibly informational and insightful video!
Can't wait for your John Company 2nd Edition review.
And now I need to learn more about Baltic history. Thank you so much for teaching me something today. More please😁
If you didn't know anything about the history of Poland and the Baltic states, you should be able to imagine it pretty accurately if you remain always aware of the fact that they are between Russia and Germany.
Fantastic video. This subject is incredibly important to me as an English person living in a former colony and as a future board games publisher. Thank you for having the courage to make this and future videos tackling complex issues in this industry/hobby.
Be the voice you want to hear in board games. Thank you for talking about colonialism in board games. It is something that is very important to our world's history, and should be given more serious thought to how it is used in board games.
Awesome and beautiful vídeo. As an anthropologist, I struggle with how the colonialism is inherent to the modern board games history, because we can't deny how strong is the connection between a lot of games and the winners view of many subjects. The diferent cradles of many board game schools are also cradles of many colonialist epicenters. As a latin american social scientist, I'm on the other side, just like you, trying to understand and to work in how we can develop better cultural products (like boardgames) and practices, recognizing and embracing how brutal were those practices to the richness of cultural diversity. We can't be quiet anymore. We must make more people aware of it. Thanks a lot for this video Efka, really. A big big hug from Chile.
Forgot to watch this when it originally came out, but I’m glad SU&SD linked back to this. I would really like to see some post-colonial games, like of rebuilding after a newfound independence. It seems like an obvious potential setting for engine-building mechanics, for example.
What's wrong with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Borges, and why would I judge you? I didn't quite understand that part, tbh
Yes, that bit was weird - mentioning 3 great writers and then winking at the audience "don't judge me, I was young"
Also the conversation about Tolkien is quite trite imho; in Italy, right wing tried to appropriate about Tolkien's work in the 70s, bending the interpretation to their political purposes. That's looks like a very old view of Tolkien works that I am surprised to see still popular (see the piece with Efka and his professor). Disappointed. Maybe we should all step out of our own "bubble" and our own confirmation biases and read other voices and studies. See the Wu Ming Foundation (a left-wing collective, unfortunately I think their works are only in Italian), for decade-long study and critique of Tolkien's work.
I thought it was more of a self deprecating comment in that “of course I studied magical realism and OF COURSE I was influenced by Borges.” Kinda like saying “I was a religious studies major and all I wanted was to know Jesus.” A self eye roll at the blindingly obvious and pedantic. At least that is how I understood it.
I think the last comment was related to Murakami and not Borges and García Márquez. At least that's how I understood it.
Well, I didn't get to that part, but Borges himself was pretty *problematic* in his political views...
@@gorsh7870 Not really. He tried to stay away from politics as much as he could. He was strongly against Peron (rightly in my opinion) which make people say that he was aligned with the different military governments, because they were also against Peron. But that's all he shared with those governments.
A pertinent, timely, and brave video. This is the gold standard of discussion we should be having about about the hobby we all love. Thank you Efka and Elaine, your work keeps getting better and better.
Thank you for the video. I greatly enjoy your channel and the essay style of your clips. Since my mother is from Lithuania I was also very interested in the historic part. Great to see my love for Lithuania combined with my appreciation for board games. A very insightful approach to a difficult topic. Greetings from Germany. :)
This is some top notch pot-stirring, deft and well said!
I love this and the FCM/Monopoly video so much.
I look forward to any video you want to make that explores "why are making/playing these games".
Creatures are always inventing games as fun ways to explore danger. When so many board games are historically based on a competitive racing or area control, colonialism is such an easy match. It's so easy to mindlessly continue down that road ("write what you know" "uh, ok, I know people sure seem to love colonizing!"). Discussions like this that increase mindfulness is really the way to improve everything. There has been such a renaissance in mechanism development lately, only mindfulness can bring up the other aspects of our games.
I love your channel more and more with every video. This was highly educational and I appreciate it beyond words.
I stumbled upon your video of Vagrantsong (after buying the game) and have spent the better part of a day watching your videos on various topics. I really enjoy your thoughtful pieces on board gaming! Keep up all the amazing work :)
Thank you for this Video! You adressing this boardgame setting 'that doesnt matter' in a distinct video was the last push for me to become a patreon backer.
Efka, this is excellent, excellent stuff. Kudos.
For about a year now I've had a great idea for a board game setting, but it is inherently colonialist. I have tried to do research on the period and location but have struggled to make progress because, as you say, I have nothing to add. Despite wanting to approach this in the "correct way" you have convinced me to pursue other designs and maybe once I have something published under my belt I can use that as a platform to find and work with somebody who does have something to add. Thank you.
maybe you could keep the theme and mechanics of the game but change the colonialist setting, don't give up on making a game!
I'd play it.
It's not the theme of the game but specifically the setting which I think is ripe for a board game. I also never said I'd give up on it. The question is should a privileged middle age white man make a game about a culture he knows very little which would, even with the best intent, lead to orientalist or harmful stereotyping. I was hoping to team up with somebody, possibly with an artist, from that culture but I can wait until I'm not an unknown entity in the industry. I assure you I won't give up on it I'll just not start with a historical setting.
Somebody else commented and presumably removed it, that I shouldn't feel bullied off of designing this game. Now, I've been bullied, I know all too well that that feels like and that is not at all the case here. I feel great about this decision.
It's because of videos like this that I support Elaine and Efka on Patreon. Keep up the good work!
Great video. Very thoughtful at many levels. Look forward to hearing more on such topics.
Iceland is a champ. First to recognize Croatia too.
In hindsight that was a mistake on our part...
:D
@@megaorvar5143 Possibly, but let's not pretend Iceland has any tangible significance in international affairs. :))
In some ways, I get especially mad at soviet colonialism sometimes. The USSR was supposed to be a union of independent socialist republics - it's in the name, for fucks sake. It really, really sucks that, in effect, it just ended up doing all the same shit everyone else was doing.
Many defenders of Purto Rico point out how slavery was outlawed in 1873 and since there's a university in the game that means jt takes place in at least the 1900s. With this timeline in mind it does give credence that the workers are indeed colonists
Excellent work, well argued! More of this - please! More critical perspectives on the hobby we love! Again - well done, Efka.
Well, I've seen this video 3 years after it was launched, so, probably talking to nobody but people that may just acuse me - because internet.
As a Portuguese and a not-repentant, no much to say.
Buuuuut... big "but" here - I am a person, a man with empathy, too much sometimes.
Be it a stranger, a dog, a friend or even someone's memory, I feel.
I could ramble much more than the length of this video - it would sound like I was against - I am not. Nice video by the way - a lot was felt by me.
I think that maybe I can see that maybe - if I am not wrong - the message is "do not paint it better than it was" although sometimes we would need that things should not be painted "too worse" either.
Don't know, I have learned a lot and keep learning, boardgame world helped me on that, by meeting different people and views and giving me hints about history, culture and other stuff that I then seek to learn more about.
The big problem here is that games mostly are about reliving, redoing or simply compete - mostly all that together, and if there is any of that, it simulates someone's loss. Am I an evil person by playing the big bad empire, the cheater, the slaver? No. Am I endorsing it? No. Am I banalizing it? Well maybe, but as I said before, most times it hints me to learn more and know. As it made me like lesser of a game and subject knowing that it was evil, well actually it has. Like violence in movies, I sometimes like less when it's too gratuitous, same here. But when the experience is good because the game / movie / book is good, well...
The "you got a banking system" for the good is as crazy as pointing out the loss of a family member, that conversation will never get nowhere, just trading blows.
All I want to point out is that yes, no more good-washing, less banalizing, but we can't also enter the way of making a subject taboo - that's also politics. A little bit of context, more information and having faith that good people raised in a good society facing a boardgame may know that it represents a dark part in humanity but being a good game may they also have fun with friends.
As said before, I've met very important people thanks to games/hobbies and those people and games have made me think. We think, we learn and we grow.
Great video, congrats.
Thanks you for sharing your personal experience on the matter. There is so much unexplored territory (excuse the terrible pun) in board games. It may not be easy to make it work, but I think the effort will move the medium forward dramatically.
Thanks for this video. I really like you talking about the genre, and not just specific games. I think this brings our hobby forward.
Sveikas kaimyne! During the first part, you might as well be retelling history of Latvia. I am glad when someone rises such issues for public discussion, because like you, I never thought of it as an issue. But I should have.
Oh boy as a Filipino, I have a lot to say about Colonialism especially how it still affects us today. But it would probably take an entire lecture length to even talk about how our country has changed hands from the Spanish, English, American and Japanese. Not to mention how some of those in power are those with what we call "mestizo" or Filipinos with mixed with Spanish or foreign heritage. Oh and the oppression of our indigenous tribes here.
On the topic of colonialism in much media, like most such outdated ideologies which unfortunately show up in some of my favorite games or any media I tend to treat them as artifacts of their age. I feel we should not forget these things rather we should remember these horrible things cause it helps us move forward so as not to commit the same mistake.
Loving this channel. Yes this is a topic that is unfortunately glossed over but it's still an ugly reflection we have to face at some time.
@@akadam90 so almost a quarter of the top 100 have themes of colonialism? Seems pretty pervasive to me.
@@akadam90 okay buddy. I'm not sure that citing the dictionary definition is the argument shattering revelation you seem to feel it is, but if you had a point do feel free to actually make it.
Currently you appear to be saying "boardgamers like colonialism so it can't be a Bad Thing(tm)" which I'm sure you can see is specious as fuck.
Just an amazing video. I was talking with some friends about why there was so many boardgames with strange themes (we as mexicans are like why did they create a boardgame about Teotihuacán? ). And then we realized that we play boardgames without even thinking about imperialism, racism, colonialism, sexism, even the idea of "progress" in a lot of games...After that conversation we didn't want to play Risk again, even when was one of our favorites.
There are so many things we need to keep talking about in boardgames and this video just started the talk. Keep doing more of them!!
(And also, a new boardgame of Spirit Island is on the way, focused in the people of the island more than in the spirits)
You can still play Risk if you want to. I think the key thing is to just not be thoughtless. I love Archipelago, a game where you are explicitly the colonizers, but I love that it shows the seductiveness of colonialism, and how you can even be a 'nice' colonizer. Play Risk the same way, why not?
Don't confuse board games with reality though? But I get it if it didn't feel right.
Like, you don't have to stop watching war movies if you don't support real war. Part of the fun and value of fake things is that they allow you to do or experience anything without doing it for real. That's also why it's so fantastic that games and such don't need to be representative of reality. They can be educational or exemplary, but they don't need to be. They can be anything.
Fantastic video. I’m very happy to see people challenging and exploring many of the problematic parts of the hobby. We can still have fun in the hobby while being aware of the things that have happened to get us here, good and bad. Very important video.
Great! Thank you for talking personally and about human history.
Thanks for this wonderful video. I hope our industry continues to learn and grow and all board games have great mechanics without problematic settings.
Started hiding in the bushes, but this was very thoughtfully done. Way to raise your voice.
I always enjoy your content but this was the best video I’ve seen from you. I thoroughly enjoyed the care and passion you spoke with. Thank you for this thought provoking conversation.
This is a great starting point for these kinds of discussions. Thank you.
Thank you for this! This is exceptional content, and I really hope you take this further!
ABSOLUTELY!!!! want more videos like this. Board games are (can be) a serious hobby and if we REALLY believe that, we should analyze them like they are real art, that really effect people.
Wow. I've not watched your stuff before but my hubs loves your stuff and recommend this to me. I'm so glad he did because this was *brilliant*!
Please, don't leave this alone! Please please please do more! This is all my favorite nerd stuff in one video!
Efka, you're brilliant and your breakdown of all of these issues was fantastic. Easy to understand without being too simplistic, intelligent without being too complicated, just great all around.
I'd love to see more like this! I know you usually do reviews, but maybe a 2nd channel for this sort of thing? 😉
Thank you for speaking up. It wasn't easy listening and was challenging, but much appreciated. I also learned a wee bit about my family history. Of Lithuanian decent, my grandparents fled Lithuania at the outbreak of WW1 we never really talked about what they left behind or history. And this video is all in a good cause. Cheers.
This was really well done! I submit myself to be one of your historical/political czars for board game developers and publishers. Of course, many will resist so we may need to take control by force, and obviously, we can’t work for free so we will need to tap into their coffers.
This shit Efka, is the reason why this youtube channel hosts the best board game reviews there are. You have the courage and the knowledge to talk about board games not only as a fun hobby but also as a cultural product. Bravo, sir!
As an aside, I'm from Italy and as someone already said, we have a complicated relationship with colonialism. Part of the Italian identity is the struggle against first the Napoleon conquest and second the Austrian empire. You can still see plaque everywhere in the Northern regions celebrating the defeat of the Austrian invasor. But we became colonizer too, under Fascism, trying to extend Italy's influence in Africa, especially in Lybia and Ethiopia...
I want to thank you, Efka. You actually made me think seriously and reassess my attitudes towards the representation of colonialism in media. I generally think of myself as being fairly progressive in my outlook, but this made me realise there were some recalcitrant ideas and apologetics going on in my mind about this subject. You helped me be aware of those and now I feel I understand the impact of this much better. Thankyou again.
With regards to your commentary of simulation vs depiction vs endorsement, as someone with a background in machine learning, I see parallels to the arguments people often make about AI, especially AI designed to automate decisions or predictions with a moral component (I.E; likelihood an individual will shoplift).
some people, who are wrong and dumb and that I hate, claim automation is a way to remove bias from such things. everyone who has studied or worked on the subject knows that in almost every scenario it instead automates the biases of the individual or society that played host to its creation (in our shoplifting example, it was because it based its findings off a pool of arrest records that were later found to be full of racially motivated arrests).
with board games, I would assume that any depiction or simulation of an event or concept would, by the nature of that concept being converted to a set of rules that need to be simple, fair, at least enough to be comprehensible and playable, end up doing the same thing; automating the perspective of the designer, both the conscious perspective and subconscious one, as ingrained by their society. a game about escaping from jail will, for example, probably tell you a lot about what the designer thinks about the morality of prisons, or at least what they think the general societal opinion on jail is. as will a game that uses the roman empire as a setting. etc.
I don't really super know if any of what I've written has a point at all, but I guess I'm just trying to point out the sort of obvious thing that you also said; that it is impossible to take no perspective on the subject matter of your art (is art the right word for boardgames?) and thus there is a moral imperative to ensure you educate yourself on a topic if you intend to portray it.
I liked the video.
Thank you for sharing Efka. Being Brazilian and growing up in Angola, the colonialist setting can certainly be troubling. Good to see creator voices who aren’t afraid to go against the grain!
Speaking a person who was born and lives in Northern Ireland, this video resonated. Thanks for the work you do.
The same for this Welshie, too.
Hey Efka, I'm an indigenous Canadian person, and you probably know my people have suffered horribly at the hands of colonization. Thanks for this video, I personally found it powerful and important to ask these questions in the board gaming arena. Questions are important because they give us tools, and by this comment section you've given your audience that. Colonialism is personal, it's not just the dark side of history, and it's affecting people to this day. If you have a minute, please keep the indigenous peoples of Canada in your thoughts, hearts, and prayers. Recently we've been finding hundreds of unmarked graves that contain the bodies of thousands of indigenous Canadian children from the period of residential schools in Canada. I don't have time to get into the details, it's horrific and tragic but hopefully healing and growth will come from it. Blessings.
I hesitate to weigh in on the "importance" of works because that's so inherently personal, but sharing your perspective on this was very moving. Thank you.
Lovely video, Efka! On a sidenote, what put you off Murakami? I would love to get some literary recomendations from you!
Tremendous work Efka, thank you 💜
Your best work (or at least my favourite :). Also, a towering and important achievement in the boardgame scene. There has been talk of it before, if you know to notice, and there will be more (hopefully even more after this), but not nearly enough, and your form, style and approach put it on the map with grace. I hope you'll also consider making more video-essays :) There isn't enough stuff like this about boardgames.
Also, I'm from one of the other baltic states, so that part sounds personally close as well.