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the world’s most controversial boardgames
how different would christmas day be if, after dinner, your dad gathered the family around the table and opened a game like ‘war on terror’ or ’serial killer: the board game’?
amazingly, this may have happened for some as all of the board games below have been / are still available to buy and each one has caused some degree of controversy, the reasons for which will quickly become apparent. some of them are pretty horrible and their inclusion in this list does not in any way condone their creation.
1. public assistance: why bother working for a living?
originally released in the 80s, slammed by many and then banned from most shops. it’s similar to playing monopoly but with some twists, including… there are 2 different journeys on the board: ‘working person’s rut’ or ‘able-bodied welfare recipient’s promenade’. you start off by collecting a $500 welfare check at the ‘collect all benefits’ spot. if you pick up an ‘out of wedlock child’ people who chose to work are obliged to pay you money when you pass the ‘1st of the month’ square.
the game is still available to buy online here.
2. ghettopoly
released in 2003 by david chang and obviously not endorsed by hasbro, ghettopoly is a parody of monopoly. houses are called ‘crack houses’ and hotels are ‘projects’, chance (i mean ‘hustle’) cards now contain messages such as ‘you got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. collect $50 from each playa’ and playing pieces include a gun, a bottle of beer and a marijuana plant. the game was discontinued after mass protest and ghettopoly.com is now defunct. however you can still visit ghettopoly.co.uk although i’m not sure whether your online order would be successful.
3. serial killer: the board game
this extremely grim affair was created by serial killer enthusiast tobias allen in the early 90s and was quickly banned in canada. the board game was packaged in a bodybag and the objective was to kill as many people (originally babies until mr allen realised he may have pushed it a bit far) and ensuring capture by police only took place in u.s. states without the death penalty. unsurprisingly the game is now (officially at least) unavailable to buy.
4. battle to baghdad
battle to baghdad: the fight for freedom was created and released in 2005 by construction worker rick medina. set in 2003, the object is to conquer baghdad and take out saddam hussein whilst hoping not to pick up cards such as ‘car bomber… you lose 200 troops’ and ‘disgrace: some soldiers are found guilty of unlawful treatment and inhumane acts of violence toward iraqi prisoners. you lose 100 troops!’. anti-war groups unsuccessfully attempted to get the game banned and currently battletobaghdad.com seems to be down but you can still purchase the game from medina’s website here.
5. juden raus
juden raus (jews out) is a hideous and infamous propaganda board game created by the nazis in 1936 and given to as many kids as possible, the object being to take control of jews wearing pointy hats and get them off the board and outside the walled city as quickly as possible by way of a dice throw. that’s all you really need to know apart from the fact that, thankfully, you can’t buy the game anymore.
6. frischfleisch
as you may have guessed, frischfleisch translates as ‘fresh flesh’ or ‘fresh meat’ and with the addition of the illustration on the front cover i reckon either translation works. it’s a board game in which you take control of a group of humans stranded on a deserted island with rescue only a month away. the objective is to stay alive long enough to enjoy the rescue, whether that be through the consumption of fruit, animals or other humans. the game is now discontinued but the makers’ website still has a page devoted to the cannibalism themed rarity here.
7. war on terror, the boardgame
the war on terror game was designed by 2 cambridge entrepreneurs and released to a huge amount of criticism, to which one of the men replied, “some people suggest that turning the war on terror into a board game is a tad insensitive. i always reply that starting a war is insensitive; a board game is just fun for all the family”. players start the game as an empire anywhere in the world and depending on various choices made, the following can take place in the quest for world dominance… ’send secret messages; fund terrorism; make deals; renege on deals; wage war; expand your empire; forge secret alliances; fund regime changes; kidnap politicians; be the terrorists’. the game can be bought here.
8. capital punishment
released in 1981, each player begins this funfest controlling 4 characters: a murderer, a rapist, an arsonist and a kidnapper. you can win in 2 ways - either 1. ‘maneuver your murderer, rapist, arsonist, and kidnapper along the path of justice into life imprisonment, death row, or the electric chair, or 2. ‘bring your liberals out of their ivory tower” and “use them to ‘spring’ your opponent’s criminals from the path of justice… send them back on the street where their activities make your opponent’s innocent citizens into victims of crime’.
9. blacks & whites
apparently designed for educational use by the psychology department of the university of california at davis, blacks & whites is basically a property-buying board game with a difference. before starting, each player chooses to be black or white, the choice resulting in the following differences…
whites:
- are the majority
- start with a million dollars
- can buy property anywhere.
blacks:
- are the minority
- start with one hundred thousand dollars
- can not buy certain properties
- draw from a separate chance deck
- collect less money for completing a lap around the gameboard.
for more info, go here.
discussion
53 comments for “the world’s most controversial boardgames”
trackbacks
- blogonandon » Blog Archive » The War On Terror (the board game!)
- War on Terror, the Board Game : Viral Politics - viralpolitics.com
- Ghettopoly and the Worst Games Ever Made | The Midnight Cafe
- Good to Go Pile . . . « Trading for the Masses
- Blog me up, Buttercups | Prose Before Hos
- The world’s most controversial boardgames
- Most controversial board games - The Gaming Tavern - TGT Forums
- Johnsenclan » Blog Archive » links 1/19/08
- Los juegos de mesa mas controvertidos
- The Daily Eudemon
- nedlinks_20080125 - 1 is A | 2 is B
- Weird Daily » Blog Archive » The World’s Most Controversial Boardgames
- Cowboy Caleb – the world’s most controversial boardgames
- Complex Blog » 'Killer' Board Game
- Wednesday gatherings « Revenge of the Castanets
- Meanwhile, in less-happy board-game news : Cannes Fringe Advertising News and Other Stuff
- Meanwhile, in less-happy board-game news : The Creative Business Community
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Don’t forget Cronulla Monopoly, a game apparently celebrating Australian race riots:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots#Board_game
I thought the dotcom version of monopoly was pretty horrific and of its time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Monopoly_dot_com_Edition_lid.jpg
How did you miss Class Struggle: The world’s first Marxist board game?
Hi DD. I’ve been playing with Stumble Upon recently and lo and behold the last page I stumbled was the post you did on phenomenal images of the earth from space.
These board games are seriously messed up. It doesn’t surprise me that someone created them - there are some warped minds out there. What does surprise me is that there are enough warped minds out there that the games got made, marketed and bought.
Where is Junta? A Great Game where you have to embezzle foreign aid yankee dollars to your swiss bank account. If you don’t like what’s happening in the game .. you start a war.
Viva la Repuclicas de las Bananas !!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junta_(game)
monoply has always been the best seller, I found a blog with the worlds top 30 boardgames, http://www.opentopix.com/topic/other/the-worlds-most-controversial-board-games
if all criminals are in board games then.. maybe the world is all at peace
Don’t forget UP AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERFUCKER (offensive only for the name). An early work by master wargamer Jim Dunnigan, it’s a conflict simulation of the Columbia U. uprising of 1966. The title echoes a slogan / battle cry of an SDS chapter active in these NYC protests.
Who the hell thinks of these games, as though there isnt enough hate and crime in the world.
I thought that some video games were bad, but these are worse.
Regards.
Oh, american geek-gamers love a macabre and/or silly theme (”Evil killer bunny hates you all”). From Junta to Doom:The boardgame, they tend to overbid each other in going for the “controversial” theme.
I’m more surprised at Friedemann Friese. That’s the guy who made “Power Grid”. German games are usually family-oriented rather than geek-oriented, so that one was unexpected.
How about “Bombs on England” from Nazi-Germany?
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/126510
Not all controversial games are created equal, it seems: I love the sound of the War On Terror game so much I just might buy one for my kids.
Hi. I’m the writer of the welfare game: PUBLIC ASSISTANCE: WHY BOTHER WORKING FOR A LIVING? and I am thrilled to see it listed as number one. The successful effort of the American welfare empire to ban the game is documented on the site, http://www.welfaregame.com It’s the only game ever banned in America, and it is political speech, plain and simple.
And yes, you can order from the UK. I have to pay a little more shipping to get it to you, but that’s fine.
I’ve got something maybe even more controversial now. Greek “myth” isn’t myth at all, but rather the history of the human race told from the standpoint of the way of Kain (Cain). http://www.solvinglight.com or
http://www.theparthenoncode.com
Frischfleish is actually quite a good strategy game, it doesn’t really belong on this list IMO. The others are all intended to make a political statement and game play was likely not considered too highly in the development. FF isn’t pushing a cannabilistic agenda in the same way that Juden Raus was, attempting to be satire as Public Assistance is, or trying to make a quick buck off of anti-terrorist furor like War on Terror or Battle for Baghdad. It’s just a game with a grisly theme, and a good game at that.
Frischflesh is quite a good game actually. Probably the most playable of the lot (that that I’d play most of them…heh). Most of the gamee on this list are monopoly-variants. Yawn.
What about an old classic game I own called ‘Assassin’ that has spaces with a Nazi symbol on it and in which players try to kill off their opponents by buying assassins to do the dirty deed. Cool.
Oh man, you forgot “Geriatric Wars”…great game, you play a senior citizen who fights other senior citizens to the death for social security checks…using anything from the poodle on the leash, to a .44 magnum. Put out by a company called “Truely Tasteless Games”. Might still be available, not sure.
“how different would christmas day be if, after dinner, your dad gathered the family around the table and opened a game like ‘war on terror’ or ’serial killer: the board game’?”
For starters, we’d actually have people interested in playing board games
funny
These and others discussed at Boarggamegeek.com http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/28062
Dude, you really need to learn how to capitalize. It’s not difficult.
Подскажите пожалуйста!, если кто знает, службу по
ремонту компьютеров в Петербурге с выездом мастера на дом?
Заранее благодарю!
Woooooooow.
I feel bad that I want to play some of these games
Pimp: The Backhanding. From the back of the box: “Pimp: The Backhanding is a fun-filled game for the whole family, assuming your family is amused by drugs, violence and prostitution.” In this game you control several pimps who attempt to “mack” the “hos”. Then the pimps attempt to “backhand the hos macked by other players. Don’t forget the “Pimptonite” or the “Porn film with a donkey” action cards. Offensive and wonderful.
@ mr. grammar
I would have to argue that DD has learnt to capitalise rather well, trading as he does on the advantages of the wealth of information and imagery available on the internet to craft an informative and entertaining blog.
Ohhh, you mean his decision not to use capital letters?! How stupid of me. My apologies. But then surely, given your obvious objection to his exclusive use of lower case letters, you should have called yourself ‘mr. punctuation’? Unless of course your name is actually Mr. Grammar, in which case, my apologies again.
Indeed, as you point out, it is not difficult to do. He just chooses not to. So, um, deal with it, dude
Take a look to War in Rio, http://jogowarinrio.blogspot.com/
That is WAR taking place on the brazilian favelas.
Although completely tongue in cheek Flying Buffalo released the Nuclear War card game back int he 80’s (and recently released an upgrade pack). Great game where if your country was eliminated you could try to wipe out all the other countries with a final retaliation strike. Ah..good times.
You missed:
Darkies in the Melon Patch
and
EVERY game about WWII in which a player can win the game as the Axis.
My favorite is actually “The Great Alaskan Clean-Up,” a board game that makes fun of the Valdez oil spill. Yes, I own it
rofl
you don’t know the meaning of offensive board game until you see vulgarville. it is the crudest, nasiest ever made. no kidding!!! http://www.gamesgonewild.com
There was a board game in the UK in the 1980s, which was taken off the shelves cause it was in bad taste. was a bomb disposal game. it had a board with a red bomb half burried in the center of the board with fins. It was banned because an army disposal officer was blown up trying to defuse a bomb left by the IRA in the run up to xmas that year the game was released.
I don’t really see the fuss over the Iraq/Terrorism themed boards (both of them). The only ones here that I find truly repulsive is the Nazi game and the Serial killer game - both of those are horrible. The “Public Assistance” one, although a tad bit mean-spirited, isn’t all that bad. The cannibal one looks good for a laugh.