Monopoly: Socialism’s misjudged parody stirred up an online backlash
Board games have been making the headlines. While the renaissance of tabletop gaming may be last year’s news, the ongoing golden age brings with it a closer scrutiny of the games we play (and those we perhaps choose not to play).
Hasbro’s Monopoly: Socialism, with its tagline “winning is for capitalists”, predictably hit the headlines upon its announcement during the summer, featuring on CNN and appearing in much of the US press including the New York Post and Time. Earlier in the year, GMT Games’ cancellation of Scramble for Africa, in which players take the roles of European powers in the 19th century – by now surely the best-known game never to have been published – prompted a New York Times article that asked: ‘Should Board Gamers Play the Roles of Racists, Slavers and Nazis?’ Such controversies are not new to board gaming – readers might recall discussions of violence in CMON’s HATE or misogyny in Monolith’s Conan – but their increasing appearance in the mainstream media (rather than on specialist board game forums) is a notable development.