Playing with history

I like history. Reading books about our past and exploring locations that show traces of past human existence. To understand what has happened before. Why things are as they are in the present. How the future may look like. Or at least to see a shadow of the thing.

The past is complicated. We will never learn the full truth. Any established truth can and will be challenged. The present always has an ongoing conversation about the past. What do we choose to tell future generations about ourselves? Who we are, how we came to be here?

Those who control the present controls the past. Those who controls the past control the future.

George Orwell

The powers that be have always had a strong interest in the past. Telling a finely curated version of the truth. Those who control the present controls the past. Those who controls the past control the future. As George Orwell said. With AI bots inventing stories faster than anyone can consume them, critical thinking and building our own understanding of the world become ever more important. And this is where games can be a great tool.

Exploring history through games

I also like games. Playing games and designing games. Roleplaying games and boardgames. Especially games rooted in history. Or inspired by. Games themselves are abstractions. They filter away details to focus our attention to core themes and key structures. Just like the stories we tell. 

The Vikings discovered America. Christopher Columbus discovered America. The Red Army crushed Nazi Germany. Two US nukes ended the war in the Pacific. There are some truths to these statements. But also a lot of nuance left out.

What games can do is to play with these truths. Boardgames can show how structures and systems (perceived or real) can lead to horrible outcomes. But also that we have agency in what happens. If nothing else then to challenge the systems created around us that cause injustice and suffering. John Company explores British imperialism in India. In Twilight Struggle, players play out the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union with the world as their playground.

Tabletop roleplaying games show us human perspectives. Through the eyes of an individual, we imagine ourselves living in another time and place and we make decisions as if we were these characters. Decisions can be emotional and moral, not just rational. What arguments can sway my character to betray someone they love? Am I willing to give my life for this cause?

Games that make you cry

When we play with history, we do ‘let’s pretend’. The outset is always our world today and us as players, our experience. We play to have fun, and sometimes fun is to go to places that are painful. Carthasis, learning through experiencing someone else’s pain and agony is as ancient as greek tragedy. My story game Montsegur 1244 about the Cathars in southern France, is that kind of fun. Will you burn for your beliefs? 

History is full of human suffering. Concentration camps. Famines and epidemics. Slavery, war, oppression, torture. Imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism, genocide. When we use the excuse of playing a game to explore these themes, both game designers and players have a special responsibility to ensure a meaningful and safe experience for everyone involved. 

Troels Ken Pedersen blogged recently about his upcoming scenario for Fastaval 2025. Inspired by scientific articles about the early population in what is today Denmark, Troels creates a game investigating genocide. I trust Troels to handle the delicate subject matter in a safe way that will seriously shake up any dualistic beliefs the players might have. As in “we are the good guys and it’s ok to kill the bad guys”. I haven’t read the game yet though. 

I flipped through a copy of the beautifully produced Rosenstrasse some time ago. A game about the experiences and choices of German women married to Jewish men during the nazi regime. Its safety mechanisms are way more evolved than anything I could have done for Montsegur 1244 if it had been on my radar back then. You will not walk away from that game thinking nazism is cool.

Killing babies

Sometimes history gets in the way of the game. My game Mars to Stay is inspired by the lost colony of Roanoke. My game The City is inspired by Ancient Athens. In both I decided to use historical events and structures but reskin them into science fiction and steam punk settings. Both games focus on character drama and development, leading up to defining decisions for the player characters and showing the consequences through play. The agony experienced by the characters as they must face hard decisions comes from their historical counterparts centuries and millennia ago. Whether it is a war with Sparta or Antigonia is not important, nor if the nearest safe place is months away by sail or through space.

For a long while I thought both of these games were to be set in their historical settings. It wasn’t until I changed my mind on this point that both games materialised. 

But even when I play a game in a fantastic setting, I like the setting to challenge my world view. Nothing is more boring (to me) than the classic murder hobos in a dungeon trope from D&D. Kill the monsters, steal the treasure, level up. White hats against black hats. No moral grey zones, only tribalism and firm roles for individuals to fit in. The classic formative D&D experience is to ask the players what they do with the orc babies after they have killed the orc fighters. Now here is a game that can go horribly wrong. But of course, if you break genre conventions, you break the game.

So how much historical context is enough? Can we truly say that we play in a historical setting while maintaining our modern day beliefs and only challenge them in safe and fun ways?

Safety advice for time travellers

Swedish gamer and archaeologist Martin Rundkvist blogs about his experience playing Vaesen. A game about gifted investigators exploring folklore creatures in the Swedish 19th countryside by Free League. 19th century X-files. Martin has much praises for the game. But he also criticises Vaesen for presenting a view of 19th century Sweden that breaks his suspension of disbelief. The example he uses is “an old steam locomotive”. Most people living in Sweden in 1850 would never have seen a locomotive, much less an old one and if the propulsion was not based on steam, it would have had legs. But hey, we are talking about a game where mermaids are real?

Quinn did a review of Vaesen last year. He loves other points and raises other concerns. Clearly a game that stirs emotions. Vaesen creates much passion and frustration. 

I have not read or played Vaesen so I can’t speak for the specific game. But certainly, a game inspired by history is still first and foremost a game. It must take outset in the players and their experiences and create a fun and meaningful experience for them. It can show them another world, a world different from ours, better or worse. With mermaids and steam engines. Or slavery and genocide. But if it takes the players on a journey to explore difficult content, it must have safety mechanisms to not leave players with a false glorification of past horrors.

Let’s see what games the future brings. And what stories they will tell about the present. I am sure the best is yet to come.