Keyword – board games

Kiss, Gábor Zoltán:

Imperial Ambitions and Ideological Censorship in Modern Board Games

This paper discusses the censorship of historical reality in the medium of board games. The modern board game provides a live and interactive opportunity for the re-enactment of a wide variety of realities and, through re-enactment, for the understanding thereof, which is in many ways threatening. Historical board games often revisit lesser-known events, challenge prevailing narratives, stimulate debate and alternative interpretations, which may lead to strong feelings of resentment. Their sensitive or controversial themes can evoke strong emotions and ethical concerns not only among the audiences, but also the creators of the games (including designers, developers, and translators) who design their games to match their social contexts or adapt the original they translate to the same social environment. Some games also support, wittingly or unwittingly, a particular political position or ideology, which is also problematic in terms of propaganda, biased interpretations, and the suppression or the reinforcement of divisive narratives. This paper addresses the latter possibilities underlying censorship based on a concrete example.

Keywords: 19th century, board games, British Empire, censorship, Russia