I have read posts in the past eluding to the fact that some people find slavery depicted in a board game as unacceptable. But yet it fits theme in some games. We have the robber in Settlers but that is ok. When is it ok to put something into a game that is theme specific but socially, morally or otherwise frowned upon. In general games have all kinds of things going on that you would not or should not do in real life. You can bomb entire planets in Twilight imperium but if you were to put a rape card in a deck building game it would most likely be considered a terrible thing even if you somehow worked it in to theme and mechanic. I am developing a game that has virgin sacrifice. One of my testers gave me feedback that he would think twice about including that in the game. So I ask how do we as designers decide where to draw the line in situations where a small part of the game is a little questionable and yet makes sense to the theme and mechanic. No on thinks twice when playing the torturer card in Dominion but if you were to create a game where you were a group of competing torturers and got points based on how much pain you incflicted on different tortured individuals there would be outcry. 7 wonders has the courtesan token but grand theft auto made news headlines for having the ability to pick up a streetwalker. I know it was graphically intense and the courtesan token is just a face but I believe my point still stands. There is obviously a line that can be crossed and that line has many gray areas and is defiend but multiple factors both tangible and intangible.
So my question is this. Is virgin sacrifice by itself enough to make someone not play a game or to make the game itself less successful than it would otherwise be if it had not included it and worked something else in?
Also looking for alternative ideas that are the equivalent to virgin sacrifice just in case :)
I think you guys are on to something there with the difference of it happening because of the game or being carried out by a player. In my case it would be carried out by a player. Perhaps I can just call it "sacrifice" and put a picture of a traditional virgin type sacrifice girl on for the image. The game is not aimed specifically at children but I would like it to not be offensive to families in general. The mechanic and gameplay will not be easily grasped by a 10 year old so the themes do not need to work for them but I would think a 13+ age is where I am aiming. Another option was a picture of a heart as a sacrifice but I thought that was even worse as the image conjured there was more graphic in my opinion.