Games Britannia - Part 2 & 3

Games Britannia Part 2

In this episode of Games Britannia Woolley traces the surprising political and social impact that board games have had in Britain over the last 200 years. Britain was the first nation to come up with the concept of board games as a means of education, these ideas later found themselves exported to America where it saw thriving success economically. 

This episode also looks deeply into Monopoly and its incredible success, it also takes a jab at the game by revealing its roots are actually tied to Communism, the irony is quite entertaining when you discover it was in fact based on a Communist game but focuses itself on a Capitalist overview of the world. It also shows how games like this, while distasteful in the eyes of some, are still incredibly popular to this day. Monopoly is not alone in this either; games such as Scrabble, Connect-4 and Cluedo have somehow lasted a surprisingly long time and still exist in the modern family home to this day.

Wooley also surveys the way board games have evolved, how they can move beyond the tangible pieces and into the realms of fantasy and imagination. A perfect example of this is Dungeons and Dragons or Dragon Age. These games have become just as popular thanks to their ability to free the player of the physical shackles and many constraints presented by a board game.


Games Britannia Part 3

Part 3 focused mainly on video games and how they've progressed over the years.

The first game of note that is covered is Elite; Elite is an old retro space exploration-trading game in which the player uses a ship to try and reach elite status through either trade or combat. It's quite interesting to watch when you come to realise just how pivotal such old games have been in paving the direction for modern games; many mechanics present then are still used thoroughly and efficiently to this day. Even though the game hasn't survived the test of time, the ideals, features and mechanics it introduced have.

Lara Croft also featured in the documentary; she was described as a really revolutionary point in game characters; finally we were starting to focus on the character and the importance of their story. Games were beginning to structure them self around the character, not the adventure. This was the beginning of the change. Some people opposed to Lara's appearance however. She had the body of a supermodel and was simply thought of as a 'Pamela Anderson solving problems'. Some people disagree with the statement, feeling she has moved beyond this and become something more.

Another big point for the documentary was moral choices and the impact they have on the overall experience. Black and White is talked about deeply here, it's unique take on gaming at the time; allowing players to indirectly or directly influence and mess with anything they choose, meant the players own judgement was responsible for whether something was right or wrong to do, and how they would act was decided by them. It was a matter of choice in intricately high amounts. Grand Theft Auto done something similar; it allowed players the free will and choice to perform whatever actions they desired, how they wanted to. Decisions in games such as these become policed by the players; instead of forcing them into something that the developer defines as morally correct, the player is challenged to decide for themselves. More and more games now do this, you could even argue games with restrictive mechanics and rule sets still give the moral choice; for example in an mmo, 'trainer killing (TK)' is when a pvper attacks and kills other players who are training. In many mmo's this is frowned upon and will usually result in the player being named and shamed, and as a result; hunted! This is the players choice; they don't have to hunt him, but they've made the moral choice, the moral obligation that it is the right thing to do.