Frischfleisch
I found a webpage today with a list of the most offensive board games ever. The list is brief, and rather subjective. Most of the games just treat sensitive subjects, mostly in an insensitive way, although I’d have to agree that “Juden Raus”—a Nazi-era board game depicting the eviction of Jews—belongs at the top of the list.
Disgusting to a gamer, if not exactly offensive, the list is half composed of tasteless adaptations of Monopoly. Monopoly is a fine game, especially in light of game design philosophy in its era, but its tired old imitations have been done to death. The shelves are littered with board games designed as a marketing ploy, for cities, sports teams, or whatever. Littered, too, with remakes that merely aim at becoming unwanted gifts for, replacing the familiar names of Boardwalk and Baltic Ave. with dog breeds, wines, whatever hobbies can be expected to make a fast buck. These cheap little turds of game design are turned out by people who don’t care a tinker’s damn about games; if they knew anything about games, they’d know that games other than monopoly and chess exist, and would present some actual selection now and then. If they understood games, they’d try designing their own, with rules to reflect the actual subject. If they liked games, they wouldn’t insult us with these lame retreads.
That’s why Frischfleisch (German for “fresh meat”) caught my eye. It stands apart from the other titles on the list, in that it might actually be a decent game. The page doesn’t show the game itself, just the box, but explains that the basic theme is one of cannibalism: people are stranded on a desert island, and can eat a variety of foods to remain alive until rescue arrives. But desert islands being notably devoid of supermarkets, sometimes the coconuts and mahi mahi run short, and the castaways have to turn to eating one another. (Just how the vital mechanic by which you determine which player’s tokens get eaten doesn’t make the game description.) Gruesome, yes, but it could also make a perfectly decent game, in the tradition of equally morbid titles like Kill Doctor Lucky or Zombies!, usually small titles, cheaply produced and worth a silly evening’s entertainment, quickly forgotten. The multiple award winner Puerto Rico includes the importation of slaves to work the plantations, although it decorously renames them “colonists.” But nobody worries about the slave economy; as long as the mechanics work, as long as the play is rich, the game can be a good one.