We have been big supporters of Mark Diaz Truman’s work in the past, but I would like to suggest this game is in very…
We have been big supporters of Mark Diaz Truman’s work in the past, but I would like to suggest this game is in very bad taste. As an attorney who has spent a good portion of his legal career dealing with the fallout from the atrocities of drug trafficking from Mexico, I may just be a little too close to the subject, but I don’t know . . . this one just seems like it needs to be put back on the shelf.
Here is my comment on another thread (slightly paraphrased), which I think adequately sums up my issues with it:
“After just a quick skim of the playbooks, [glorifying violence] is all it seems to do. But, of course, we play lots of games that do this. The difference is those games are either a) fantastical in nature or b) have some historical distance from the subject matter.
No one likes a scold (least of all me), but i think a few things need to be said here:
1. The acts of violence that are taking place across the border are barbaric. And they are taking place right now.
2. Much of this violence is directed at women (ask me about the father I worked with on an immigration matter whose two daughters were each be-headed in narco-related violence). I find it sadly amusing that this vector of our hobby pays so much lip service to sexism and the treatment of women in the play space, and yet we have a blind spot for something like this?
3. Speaking of that blind spot, I would like to suggest it is there because the victims are Mexicans; a textbook example of othering that allows us to say “Haha, let’s play this game about drug dealers, muchachos, won’t that be fun?” and not feel guilty about it.”
http://www.magpiegames.com/cartel-ashcan-edition/
