My Grandparents stopped by the office with with one of their close friends, who I think of as a great aunt. She asked of the board games we make, Now Colby, these arent bad games are they? No violence or anything? A laugh escaped as I answered. Theyre exclusively violent. Conflict, story and some amount of variability exist in all our games because they all work together to create something dramatic. The conflicting and competitive nature of board games makes it easy to tell stories involving some kind of combativeness. Weve talked about making a Corporate America game in our crossroad series that wouldnt be violent... It would however probably be the most amoral of our games to date. Im not ashamed of making violent games, I think of World War II and think that there can be nobility in war, but this comment has stuck with me nonetheless and evolved into a kind of challenge. Dead of Winter plays around with morality and human nature very fatalistically. Mice and Mystics puts a focus on the good side of human nature, but still achieves it with violence. Sure you defeat enemies instead of kill them, but you do it with swords and hammers... So theres that. Can the beautiful side of humanity like love, sacrifice, nobility, forgiveness, redemption, teamwork, etc. be explored in this medium? I feel like Jerry has with Mice and Mystics but it took conflict and darkness to overcome to achieve it. I feel like it is a way in which those traits can feel earned and it gives something to set them in contrast against. Im curious: What are some non-violent stories youve enjoyed and do you think they could be translated well to a board game? Isaac Vega David Richards Jerry Hawthorne Brian Beatmaster Beyke Chad Hoverter Jason Glassbrenner Jason Benningfield Jake Ollervides
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 11:10:20 +0000