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So you can Slave Trade on a Steam game now

Slave tetris was very real unfortunately.

slavery-slave-ships-granger.jpg

Fuck!
 

Alucrid

Banned
before everyone raises their pitchforks... the trailer suggests this is an educational game. although I agree it is extremely tacky in presentation.

There's a slave trading humanoid rat. Oh sorry, I forgot about the country Ratlandia which disappeared once the slave trade all but dried up.
 

jwk94

Member
There's a slave trading humanoid rat. Oh sorry, I forgot about the country Ratlandia which disappeared once the slave trade all but dried up.

Is that really a problem though? I mean kids obviously know that's an exageration and that's obviously in there to help keep kids interested. Honestly, I'm fine with this as long as it can teach the kids about the slave trade and maybe even the effects it had on Africans.

We need a AAA budgeted game that follows the slave trade. I remember there was some fake slavery game trailer released a few years back and everybody blew their lid about it. I did too, but after some thought, I came to the conclusion that such a game should have existed because it probably would've been good and informative.

An Assassin's Creed game where you play as a member of the Underground Railroad would be amazing.
 

sibarraz

Banned
I think that an idea like this could work if is made in the vein of papers please, but here from the art to the mice to the slave tetris it make it seem super offensive even if it wasn't their intention

And to be honest, I doubt that, you must be super dumb to look at this thinking that you are sending a serious message, like the romero board game TRAINS where delivers the message perfectly
 
Well, to be fair, they are from Sweden, so it's likely their only experience with racial sensitivity is leaving food out for the trolls.

Then they just shouldn't have made it.

What amount of learning are you getting by playing Slave Tetris? That slaves were packed into horrible conditions? That's true, but you could effectively teach someone that by just showing them a picture. But when you try and make something like that "fun" in that manner, it demeans the whole point.
 
This is really tasteless.

Valve please just once and for all kill Greenlight, Gabe himself admitted they didn't do a good job with it and it just keeps pumping out hot garbage.
 

Neoweee

Member
I'd like to think this is just a bit misguided "satire", but the edutainment awards and their webpage speaks otherwise. Their games are available on other services, as well:
http://shop.seriousgames.net/?___store=english

I don't think the subject matter or its presentation are out of line for the target audience of 2nd-5th graders (8-12 y.o.). Slave Tetris is every bit as offensive as it should be, because, yes, that shit actually happened.


I think people are reacting a bit strongly over a game aimed at kids that can barely read.
 

Aselith

Member
I'd like to think this is just a bit misguided "satire", but the edutainment awards and their webpage speaks otherwise. Their games are available on other services, as well:
http://shop.seriousgames.net/?___store=english

I don't think the subject matter or its presentation are out of line for the target audience of 2nd-5th graders (8-12 y.o.). Slave Tetris is every bit as offensive as it should be, because, yes, that shit actually happened.

A satirical look at slavery is going to be lost on 8-12 year olds so if that was the intent they really screwed up.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
Slave tetris was very real unfortunately.

slavery-slave-ships-granger.jpg

This is true, but there is a reason many children's books will often take liberties to avoid showing some atrocities to try to be tactful, not scare the children away, and most of all try to not make it look like a parody or look tasteless which would defeat the purpose and intent of what you're trying to convey.

Slavery and racism is a very delicate subject to explore that requires a lot of tact and understanding.
 

Neoweee

Member
A satirical look at slavery is going to be lost on 8-12 year olds so if that was the intent they really screwed up.

I'm really interested in seeing if the game actually sells to school. It's either misguided satire, or a weirdly appropriate game for 2nd graders (but a bit too morose, imo).
 

DryvBy

Member
I just tried this game out and I tried to imagine if I were a kid playing this. My honest opinion (I just hit Africa before quitting). Meh, I guess I could see this being educational in a way. Or a gateway to read more into slavery.

I used to play an old Sierra game called Pepper's Adventures in Time where I went back to colonial times in America and it was goofy enough to get me to read a history book on my own.

I don't think (and hope) that this product is purposely being distasteful. I think it might be trying to inspire kids to get into history. I guess it sort of worked. I didn't know anything about Slave Tetris before seeing this.

But that shock of seeing this on Steam. Whew.

Can you kill the enslavers in this game.

No, but you can smart off. The mouse warned me if I lost too much trust, I'd end up back in chains.
 
Well there is that board game "Train", where players try to efficiently pack train cars full of people. Then at the end of the game you find out you were really sending people to a concentration camps.

I can imagine a "game" about slavery that actually teaches the player something, but this sure isn't it.

Well, yes, I wasn't really arguing that.

...Though it's interesting that you bring up Train. From my understanding, the thing that makes Train work is the player's ignorance of what they're doing. Stuffing people into a train essentially dehumanizes them and makes them into a goal, and the horror comes when they turn over the card for Auschwitz.

Maybe a game with similar methods might be effective in teaching people about the horrors of tight packing? It'd probably be better than Slave Tetris in a cheap edutainment game.

EDIT:

So I just found out that the same person who made "Train" also made another game called "The New World" that was about this exact topic of slave-packing.
 

Neoweee

Member
I think people need to keep in mind that back in our day, we played an edutainment game where you could intentionally kill off your family by drowning them, starving them, or giving them dysentery. This overall seems at least in that same ballpark.

No, but you can smart off. The mouse warned me if I lost too much trust, I'd end up back in chains.

What actually happens when you mouth off? Are there actual consequences? Divergent story branches, or just a Game Over, essentially?
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I wouldn't buy this even if I was a multimillionaire.

I did learn about this in a history class where the professor was considered attractive and all the females loved him. I couldn't get into his teaching methods at all, so I dropped it. I however find the visual expression to be spot on with some of the pictures I have seen. It's a bit sickening to find the art style so similar to classic games that I dare not say their names.

This feels like it would get a reaction out of a person looking for a racist laugh or I can't believe they made this to begin with. I do however see the point in expression. You wouldn't want to live in a world where games or media like this could not be made either.

Who likes to throw the whole, "If I do this then you get to do this" argument, so we react by not playing it or not funding it.

If I said, "No hentai love sims" then I am telling myself I shouldn't have that graphically violent shooter I crave for every year. I guess Steam or Valve could pull it down, but that's saying they they monitor what content they allow on Steam. Me personally, I'd rather have Steam have an AO selection than censoring content like a parent.

I probably am throwing out the word "Power" in the most offensive way possible and some people don't like to see power defined in that way.
 

DryvBy

Member
I think people need to keep in mind that back in our day, we played an edutainment game where you could intentionally kill off your family by drowning them, starving them, or giving them dysentery. This overall seems at least in that same ballpark.



What actually happens when you mouth off? Are there actual consequences? Divergent story branches, or just a Game Over, essentially?

You have a trust bar at the top left that lowers if you're rude or lie to someone. If it drops too low, that's when I assume you lose.
 

Alucrid

Banned
I think people need to keep in mind that back in our day, we played an edutainment game where you could intentionally kill off your family by drowning them, starving them, or giving them dysentery. This overall seems at least in that same ballpark.



What actually happens when you mouth off? Are there actual consequences? Divergent story branches, or just a Game Over, essentially?

"Master will remember that"
 
I just tried this game out and I tried to imagine if I were a kid playing this. My honest opinion (I just hit Africa before quitting). Meh, I guess I could see this being educational in a way. Or a gateway to read more into slavery.

I used to play an old Sierra game called Pepper's Adventures in Time where I went back to colonial times in America and it was goofy enough to get me to read a history book on my own.

I don't think (and hope) that this product is purposely being distasteful. I think it might be trying to inspire kids to get into history. I guess it sort of worked. I didn't know anything about Slave Tetris before seeing this.

But that shock of seeing this on Steam. Whew.



No, but you can smart off. The mouse warned me if I lost too much trust, I'd end up back in chains.

I watched the Shamwow playthrough and I'll say I don't think it was intentionally distasteful either, but if the devs can't understand how it's in incredibly poor taste, they maybe shouldn't be broaching subjects like this if they are gonna put such minimal effort and sensitivity into the subject material.
 

border

Member
"Travel back in time and witness the horrors of slave trade firsthand."

Is Polygon writing their Steam profile text now?


iHCiODjANsnxy.png
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
What's next though? A "What's it like Holocaust?". You can teach the evil we endured as a nation by showing them examples, depicting deadly wars in video games, and other tragic events. It's just the way its depicted or enjoyed is very opinionated.

I say something is wrong and go do to the opposite. I just make sure that I understand what to take seriously, what it meant to our world, and how to approach the problem further.
 
They missed the mark in tone and execution, but I think their heart was in the right place. I hope...
Just watching Jim's squirtyplay you can see this. The morality system where doing what we consider the morally right thing often lands the kid in trouble and it makes it obvious what the morally right thing to do is....but its too "jolly".
The sister is in a cage.. but she sounds like a cheerier Disney princess, theres a fucking anamorphic mouse giving you Jurassic park goggles to see the future and the music is catchy.
 

EBE

Member
And what idea would that be?

An adventure game where you play the role of a slave making the transatlantic voyage to the new world. This particular game doesn't appear to follow a strict historicity (might be distasteful to some) but I wouldn't discount a game based on the previous just because of its subject matter.
 
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