Local outrage at "Terrorism board game"

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Well we wouldn't expect much else from our home town, but the Cambridge Evening News have pulled out all the stops (and a previously undiscovered font size) to bring the "disgust" element of the story to the foreground. They even sought out a 7th July tube bomb survivor to ensure the emotional reaction wouldn't go untrawled.

That's got to be in the '10 ways to close down a debate': "Evoke an emotion which cannot be reasoned with". Fear works well, day-to-day, of course, but outrage and disgust are also great ways of derailing an argument.

We were interested in the theory that it's ok to make and play a game about the second world war, because it's slightly abstract and lost in the sands of time, but a game about terrorism is well out of order. Our problem is that war is too abstract even in the present.

By saying it shouldn't be banned, he's immediately bringing WoT into the frame of a banning discussionJust as July 7th survivor, Jacqui Putman, quoted in the CEN, isn't keen on our board game because she's been closer than most to terrorism, we think the public appetite for war would be greatly reduced if there wasn't this level of abstraction. If the images and reports of war weren't so sterile and sparing of the horrors of violent conflict.

The first journalist to ask us if our board game isn't a bit insensitive when considering tens of thousands of innocent lives were lost (and continue to be lost) during the Iraq 'war' will get a double-thumbs-up from us.

Also interesting to note is how Jim Paice MP decried our game, while magnanimously stating that our game "shouldn't be banned". The subtext of this remark is that a board game could be in the arena of something that might be banned. By saying it shouldn't be banned, he's immediately bringing WoT into the frame of a banning discussion. After all, if something really shouldn't be banned, why would you even mention it shouldn't be banned? It's like commenting on the new range of Tesco pizzas and adding "of course, I don't think they should be banned". That'd be nonsense. If it's truly incongruous, you wouldn't mention it.

That said, we're certain the CEN put the question thus: "do you think this game should be banned?" Good work, chaps.

Factory proofs and advance ordering

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Ho ho ho, exciting times. We just got the first proofs back from the factory and it looks sweeeeet. It's a BIG CHUNKY BEAST. Seriously, this is a beefy boardgame, jam-packed with goodies. That's right, a beefy jam sandwich of a game, oozing mischievous satirical juices from every crevice. Even if we say so ourselves, it's looking marvellous.

We've also just sent the payment system live so you can now buy the game and rest those fears of it selling out before you can get your hands on one. Oh, and the first 500 orders get a signed, limited edition certificate type thing.

Unfortunately the games aren't due until end October, so there's still some waiting to do. However, there'll be plenty of news in the meantime - we've had some interesting phone calls, but we'll save the details of that for later.

Blair: Counter-Boardgame Tactics

We can only assume that Tony Blair and top aides within the government are worried about the impending launch of the War on Terror, the boardgame.

Only weeks after we announce that we've sent the game to print, whilst addressing the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Blair referred to an 'arc of extremism' knowing only too well that the phrase 'Axis of Evil' is used throughout our game.

"The prime minister said: 'There is an arc of extremism now stretching across the Middle East and touching countries far outside that region'." [BBC News - 2 August 2006]

The British government appears to have learnt from the tactics of George W. Bush, who attempted to re-brand the 'War on Terror' as the 'Long War' soon after we finished the box design.

We have also heard from an anonymous informant that there are plans underway to try and move away from the term 'liberation' and instead use 'expropriation' to describe UK foreign policy.

The geeks speak...

So we're still bathing in the glow of actually finishing the game, but it's getting far too funny to sit back and take it easy, the preparations for selling the buggers at Essen Toy Fair are underway.

Just because we've finished the game doesn't mean the testing sets are gathering dust. One's in Australia, one's in London and there are a few dotted around Cambridge. In fact, we're getting more fans of the game by the day. Some neighbours are particular keen, having a crack at the "mad bastard long war" version of the rules. 13 and a half hours later and they came to a 'Gentlemen's Draw'. (see note left for us)

We've also kicked up some interesting debate on the one and only BoardGameGeek website, a taste of things to come? A common response is 'let's see the rules then', so we're going to be adding them to the website any day now.

T minus 28 days before we have production proofs in our hands, bring it on...

The War on Terror is Over!

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We bloody did it. We've actually finished.

To think it was back in March 2003 when we first decided – initially as a private joke - to make a board game about the so-called 'war on terror'. This decision was born out of both frustration and anger. We'd been on the marches, we'd written to our MP and nothing made any difference. As we sat watching the TV on the eve of an unstoppable war, we started talking about how it all felt like a giant game: one-time allies were now enemies; old enemies, now friends. It was all about short-term strategic gain, rather than any enduring moral code – and yet we saw how the moral narrative was essential for everyone to go along with the game. It was almost as if everyone in the world had agreed to a set of unwritten rules and to question those felt as perverse as to question having to pay rent when you land on someone else's square in Monopoly; this is just the way the game works.

So we started fleshing out a strategic, war game with a difference. Firstly, we made it ridiculous. The cruel absurdity of the real war on terror became darkly comic in our game. Terrorists became one, amorphous all-threatening force; the Axis of Evil became a spinner in the middle of the board, oil became the central currency and the number one reason to (or not to) 'liberate' a country, then there's the balaclava that comes in the box with the word “EVIL” stitched in large, red letters on the forehead ... Before we knew it, that private joke had mutated into an indepth game that was both silly, yet deathly serious

I've got to say, we were doubtful this day would come, but today - over three years on from that drunken evening when the idea was born - we finally sent everything off to print.

So we got funding, we made Tom draw more pictures than we could handle, we finished the designs, we spent days on end staring at the computer, cleaning up hundreds of files, pixel by pixel and we read and re-read every line of text about 100 times. And now it's out of our hands...

Over three years on, we've finally sent everything off to print.For those who still don't believe it's actually real, here are some pictures of proofs we printed out today. And if that's not enough, to whet you're appetite, check out the huuuuuge jpeg of the front of the box. Doesn't really do it justice, but you'll have to take our word for it - this little beauty wouldn't look out of place on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Best foot forward! The Long War has just begun ...