252 - games and war ⚔️🎲
Hey there, !
I went to a "Museum of Childhood" in Edinburgh on one of my slow mornings there, and while it was kinda sweet, it was also kinda weird. As an example, there were just some intense whiplash moments of 'oh look at the cute Winnie the Pooh and Piglet!' to 'wait is that what they thought asian people looked like?'
However, a good bonus was that I stumbled upon some old versions of boardgames that the kids used to play. There were small little models of houses and tanks and people, there were a lot of 'roll dice and travel around a path' type games, and I mean, it even had Mouse Trap!; a favourite when I was a kid based on the boardgames my grandparents had at their house.
Seeing all these old boardgames made me wish that there was somewhere that could detail out the full history of boardgames and how they've changed over time. While I was in Edinburgh, the National Museum there was doing a 'Game On!' exhibition on video games (I think it was at ACMI for a while?) - I didn't go, but I remember the descriptions talking about documenting the change from Pong, to arcade games, to consoles, to modern day gaming.
Boardgames don't have that, I think - or if they do, the history kind of jumps from abstract games like Go and Chess, to Monopoly / Game of Life type games, to Catan, and then...whatever we've got now; an explosion of the boardgaming hobby that encompasses myriad themes and mechanics.
I know I'm biased because I'm a bit of a boardgame nerd, but I think it's so valuable and important to know how these types of board games have evolved over time, because those techniques and designs are transferable to so many realms and domains - though back in the day, it was mainly defence and war. Chess and Go, for example, were used to train people to think more strategically. Hell, there's the apocryphal origin story of Chinese Chess being used to simulate battle between generals (which is why there's a river between the two sides).
Case in point, there was a fascinating video I watched recently by the channel People Make Games on how the defence industry uses board games to create wargames and simulations - a really well researched and balanced piece on how people design these games, help people think about the decisions they're making, and simulate the impacts and effects of what they would want to do in real life. It was so interesting to see that the designers would make these unique, bespoke simluations of games for like...one training session, and then they box them up and put them away in the basement because they need to simulate something completely new next time! Talk about job security, hey?
And wow, the discussions of ethics with these game designers is very interesting, with many going 'yeah I know it's bad, but it's a job at the end of the day, y'know?' and others being very starkly 'yeah but it helps teach people how to kill the bad guys'. I love the commentary on the industry from the video - and that there are so many games like Pax Pamir and John Company which are representative of some pretty crap areas of history but that it can't be written out of it either.
But aside from war, I love that most of the games we have today are still about competition, but in softer, and milder ways. Instead of the full-on wargames that simulate battle, we have cute forest animals building houses, or blocking people from putting trains down on to an ever-growing network of railways, or trading sheep like farmers. They're skills that I'm very unlikely to ever need, but it scratches a bit of an itch in strategic thinking and, well, screwing over other people over the board.
I guess that's better, right? 😉
Chat soon :)
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✔️Real Life Recommendations
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Rebel Ridge - 3.5 stars, Letterboxd review: "hell hath no fury like deliciously restrained rage" - first movie I've ever seen with Aaron Pierre and boyyyyy he is great. A story about civil forfeiture and how it fucks with people in America, and the escalating tension that boils over as everyone tries to protect themselves and their livelihoods. Highly recommended as a laid back justice revenge flick against cops.
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Mars Bar Ice Cream - my friend Dave introduced these to me; it's like a Mars Bar, but like...an ideal platonic version of a Mars Bar. It solves the sticky caramel-y issue for me that comes from a Mars Bar and keeps the exterior so crisp and nice. The ice cream itself is chocolately goodness - I think I gotta keep my freezer stocked with these more often now :D
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Suno AI - it's AI generated music, but extremely impressive. You give it a prompt and it creates a song for you - the lyrics, the singing, the music - ALL OF IT. Super super interesting use case.
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Colour check - is my blue your blue? - a philosophical riddle turns into a real life comparison
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The Ideation Flywheel - how to find startup ideas to pursue, and how to pursue them (very relevant to me right now :D)