Skip to Content
 

Save the Gingers

3 replies [Last post]
Tue, 03/15/2016 - 14:49
Gabe
Gabe's picture
Offline
Joined: 09/11/2014

So, I'm working on a disaster game about helping a country recover after an earthquake.

I don't want to do the stereotypical "come save the pitiful black children" kind of thing, so I thought what if it's a "come save the pasty white children" kind of thing.

In the fictional Gingeronia, a terrible earthquake has devastated the country, and it's up to you to help them rebuild.

I think it would be 1 part humorous and 1 part social commentary. But would it actually be a detractor?

Would it be better to just have a generic country with a generic group of people?

Top
Tue, 03/15/2016 - 16:58
#1
let-off studios
let-off studios's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/07/2011
Will It Add Value?

Does the specific ethnic group you're depicting/lampooning have something to do with the game? Does a particular mechanic of the game depend on this? Could it just as easily be some fantastical/imagined race?

If it's a serious and/or historical fiction game, then it may work to have a specific ethnic group/demographic in your game. If not, there's a HUGE potential for backlash and negative reception.

I've personally learned the hard way that one's sensitivity to ethnic groups/historical events may not reflect that of the general public, and could completely turn off your target audience (and potential publishers).

Incidentally, I had that lesson here at BGDF, only a couple years ago:
http://let-off.com/go/writing/white-privilege-art/

Top
Tue, 03/15/2016 - 17:25
#2
chris_mancini
chris_mancini's picture
Offline
Joined: 05/01/2015
My issue with your concept is

My issue with your concept is taking a natural disaster, something that happens far too regularly nowadays, and trying to make it humorous. Even Hasbro got hit with some consumer backlash about insensitivity for their Jenga Quake game, and that theme and mechanism actually makes a lot of sense with the game!

You can look at similarly themed games like Eruption, where the gameplay puts players in control of the disaster by building the path which the lava takes while simultaneously protecting their own village from destruction, or as the publisher puts it, the village "at the lowest temperature" at the end of the game wins...notice how "safe" that sounds?

I'd say if what you have is a game based on rebuilding a community or colony, make it sci-fi or fantasy, where you can be as kind or brutal to the inhabitants as you want without the fear of criticism. If they must be human, you may consider a prehistoric theme which will sufficiently separate their humanity from their fate within the game...meaning no one is on a soapbox for caveman rights.

Personally I'd leave any effort at a social commentary out of it, unless everything in the game benefits the players' awareness as well as those whom the game claims to socially represent.

Let-Off Studios, thank you for sharing your experience...it takes a mature and humble person to admit things like that!

Top
Tue, 03/15/2016 - 21:16
#3
Gabe
Gabe's picture
Offline
Joined: 09/11/2014
Solid points all

Solid points all around.

Having a specific people group for the game doesn't add anything to it which in and of itself suggests it should be cut.

I'm going to stick with a modern setting as players don't do anything in the game to cause harm. Whoever rebuilds the best wins, and there aren't any take-that elements to the game.

If I use a generic disaster setting, I don't believe there to be anything offensive.

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut