105: The history of colonialism in board games, co-op interactivity (guest: Resonym)

Mar 23, 2023

Indie games publisher Resonym does things differently. Just take a look at its recent Glitch Squad (a party game about faulty forensic science), Surrealist Dinner Party (you can guess what that's about), and Buffalo (a party game that makes you less prejudiced). We love the company's socially conscious design philosophy, and Mary Flanagan (founder, professor, game designer, and artist) just co-authored an entire book about the history of colonialism in board games, Playing Oppression. We snagged Mary and fellow Resonym game designer Max Seidman to discuss all of the above -- plus how much cooperation we really want in cooperative games.

Timeline:

• 4:11 - Christina's game pick: Shamans.
• 5:47 - Max's game pick: Lost Ruins of Arnak.
• 7:01 - Mary's game pick: MonsDRAWsity.
• 8:46 - Max's topic: The four categories of interaction in co-op games.
• 23:22 - Mary's topic: The long, sordid history of colonialism in board games.
• 41:36 - Christina's topic: Hiding social good in games (embedded game design).