grokludo

What do we talk about when we talk about 4X?We think about abstract systems, resource management, efficiency, growth... But what about all the invisible things that go along with eXploitation, and eXtermination?Mary Flanagan is a game designer, and academic, and the author of Playing Oppression: The Legacy of Conquest and Empire in Colonialist Board Games.The book looks at the history of board games and how they encoded the values of the time and place they were in. From ancient games, through to the explosion of complex strategy systems and 4X.For those unfamiliar, 4X is a subgenre that typically involves large colonial empires. The 4 Xs are Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. In the fantasy of the game, we play the decider, not just moving resources around for efficiency, but also deciding the fate of those crushed under the boot of empire. To better understand the other side of the story part of Mary's research involved sitting down and playing these games with descendants of the people who've been exploited and exterminated. 4X games are fun, I love them, they scratch that efficiency and optimisation part of my brain. This isn't about saying they're bad, or that players are incapable of separating games from life. It's just good to take a step back sometimes and analyse the underlying assumptions of things.And, a large part of our Western civilisation, and indeed its values, are built on the flawed concepts of terra nullius, might makes right, and always being ashamed of the last colonial project, while denying the current one.Mary joins us to talk about how these values are encoded in our games.---------------------------------------------------------------------Find Mary's book, Playing Oppression, here:https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5547/Playing-OppressionThe-Legacy-of-Conquest-andFind Mary's games, including Monarch, here:https://resonym.com/---------------------------------------------------------------------Get grokludo in your inbox at grokludo.com, or catch it on the big podcast platforms!I always write a bit more on the grokludo website:https://grokludo.com/YouTube Playlist:youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3cxb6pzUE9Z7PXjIVbmr5qiohoq5wTdoFollow on X:https://x.com/TheJunglistFollow on BlueSky:https://bsky.app/profile/thejunglist.bsky.socialPodcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/6GMbpa2aTZi8dBa0VVbsU1https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grokludo/id1736667050