First things first, happy new year! I ended last year with a bit of a downer but excited to come back with renewed energies and finish up these dev articles.

It wasn’t until late 2023 that I fully picked up this project again, with the new perspective and clarity gained in the last few years. The same question lingered in the air: why do I make board games? And therefore, what type of game do I want to make?

For me, it’s clearly not for financial reasons. I have a good career as an engineer that I enjoy (spoiler: not that many authors make board games for money; they don’t pay well). In fact, making board games is mostly costing me money. I do them because they connect me with my past self, when I grew up playing them. I do them because I am a fundamentally creative person, and therefore I need to create. And I do them because they are a perfect excuse to express, give opinions, have conversations, connect and share with like-minded people. If making the games I want to make means stepping away from the major publishers and taking personal financial risks, then this is a risk I am willing to take.

Politics in Board Games

Everything we do, everything we don’t do, and things we don’t even consider doing are political decisions. I don’t mean it in a partisan politics kind of way - I couldn’t care less how you label yourself or which party you vote for. So what is political? Basically, the ability to propose and discuss ideas. Ideas that will very likely have an impact on our lives. This may be obvious for a lot of you.

An argument is regularly made in the board game industry that politics should be avoided. It’s distasteful, and it divides the community. There’s a recent history of authors tackling political subjects and getting a lot of backlash because of it. Thinking about Tax The Rich or Cole Wehrle's Molly House here.

Let’s not be naive; every game is political. Toys we play with as kids are political, as well as the superhero movies we watched growing up. They create a narrative, promulgue values. We have all been shaped by the political ideas of the media we consume our entire lives. Ask Hollywood. We have played soldiers many times, but nobody seems to find Memoir '44 distasteful.

The board game community is incredibly privileged. It’s full of thoughtful and passionate people. It’s full of people who can find the time and dedication to sit at the same table for hours and not even think about checking their Instagram feeds. Of parents who share their games with their kids, thus finding ever more scarce spaces in which to communicate with the coming generations. And those generations will be shaped by the games they played with their parents, just like I have. This is an incredible place to discuss ideas, to discuss politics.

When I thought about letting go of Limbo, the answer was not to tone it down to make it comply with some unwritten rules of acceptability. To make it yet another product. The answer was to take that essence and multiply its message. What we do as authors, illustrators, and creators is a form of art, of culture. And culture is meant to be uncomfortable and ask questions.

This is the reason Limbo had to evolve into The Idles. What is more relevant and up-to-date than a game that reminisces about the American dream, consumerism, the dehumanization of a culture of productivity, and AI? It’s not a manifesto; it’s a game, and a fun one at that. As you peel back its layers, hopefully, you will find yourself thinking about those things - you are free to engage with it or not. This is the power of making culture - one that we as authors should be able to exercise. The alternative is all too bleak.

This is probably a great time to introduce you guys to the third member of our team, Manuela Bocco. Lawyer by trade, Manuela has been actively engaged in politics and activism for many years, and will be in charge of our communications. I for one can’t wait to sit down with her and have a good chat about all these topics - I know she has a lot of good insights to share.

There’s a famous quote from Spanish writer Antonio Machado that reads something like, "The politics you do not make is made without you, and is made against you.” I genuely believe everybody in this industry has an opportunity and a responsibility to pitch in, particularly at these convoluted political times.

But this has to be a conversation, and I am genuinely interested in hearing what other fellow authors and players have to say about this.

This will be the last post from The Idles dev diaries, but we’ll come back to you guys shortly with a lot of news and a full-on launch on the 29th of January.

Until then, peace out!