I enjoyed this article that was published on Rock Paper Shotgun earlier today: How video games consistently fail Gandhi by Nikhil Murthy.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/04/22/how-video-games-consistently-fail-gandhi/
Obviously the main focus of the article is the most famous appearance of Gandhi in a game — all 6 editions of Civilization.
This quote stood out to me as the main point:-
A lot of us here find Nuke Gandhi a meme that has been done to death, and others object to him ruling over ancient India, or any India at all given how he was never Prime Minister in real life.
But the real issue is that depicting Gandhi (perhaps the most successful pacifist anti-colonial activist) as leader of an ever-expanding empire will always fail to capture the man’s most famous attribute. It would be like having Alexander or Genghis Khan as mayor in a peaceful city-builder game.
I think it’s well past time to drop him as a leader. But it raises interesting possibilities for internal resistance guiding the development of your empire beyond general unhappiness or disloyalty. A little like Tropico’s political factions, this could make interesting revolutionary moments within the game.
Any thoughts?
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/04/22/how-video-games-consistently-fail-gandhi/
Obviously the main focus of the article is the most famous appearance of Gandhi in a game — all 6 editions of Civilization.
This quote stood out to me as the main point:-
If, like Louis XIV, the player is to be the state, then Gandhi can only ever be positioned against them. If a game is to include him, it would have to be leading populist movements against the player. You would see him protest your war-mongering or call for the boycott of your industrial goods. You would see him fast for the independence of the nation you conquered 30 turns ago.
A lot of us here find Nuke Gandhi a meme that has been done to death, and others object to him ruling over ancient India, or any India at all given how he was never Prime Minister in real life.
But the real issue is that depicting Gandhi (perhaps the most successful pacifist anti-colonial activist) as leader of an ever-expanding empire will always fail to capture the man’s most famous attribute. It would be like having Alexander or Genghis Khan as mayor in a peaceful city-builder game.
I think it’s well past time to drop him as a leader. But it raises interesting possibilities for internal resistance guiding the development of your empire beyond general unhappiness or disloyalty. A little like Tropico’s political factions, this could make interesting revolutionary moments within the game.
Any thoughts?