War on Terror boardgame branded criminal by police
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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It may not be fun for all the family – well, not in the same way as Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit or Mousetrap, say. The themes of empire building and terrorist-style attacks on opponents would probably provoke an outbreak of spluttering over the Christmas sherry.
It is rare, however, for a board game to be seized by the police. This week that distinction befell War on Terror: The Boardgame; a set was confiscated from climate protesters in Kent.
Following a series of raids on the climate change camp near Kingsnorth power station, officers displayed an array of supposed weapons snatched from demonstrators: knives, chisels, bolt cutters, a throwing star – and a copy of the satirical game, which lampoons Washington's "war on terror".
For the game's creators, Andrew Sheerin and Andy Tompkins, web designers from Cambridge, the inclusion of their toy was a shock.
"When I saw the pictures in the papers I was absolutely baffled," said Mr Sheerin, 32. "I thought: surely no member of the public is going to believe that a board game could be used as a weapon?"
You won't find the game in high street stores; retailers have all declined to stock it. The high street chain Zavvi bought 5,000 sets but strangely withdrew them for sale after one day, citing "poor sales". But since its low-key launch two years ago, War on Terror: The Boardgame has sold 12,000 copies online and through independent stockists, prominently featuring in student bedsits.
Distribution deals have been set up to sell the game in Europe and the United States, where war fatigue has ensured a keener reception than in Britain.
Much like games such as Risk or Diplomacy, War on Terror revolves around players creating empires that compete and wage war against each other for resources and land. The controversial twist allows them to "train" terrorist cells that either attack your enemies or, if you're unlucky, turn against you – like some anti-Western terror groups have done.
There is an "Axis of Evil spinner" intended to parody international diplomacy by randomly deciding which player is designated a terrorist state. That person then has to wear a balaclava (included in the box set) with the word "Evil" stitched on to it.
Kent police said they had confiscated the game because the balaclava "could be used to conceal someone's identity or could be used in the course of a criminal act". Mr Sheerin was unconvinced. "That's absurd," he said. "A beard can conceal someone's identity. Are the police going to start banning beards?"
The game's slanted political overtones were fostered in the build-up to the Iraq war. "When we watched the news there was this endless sense of frustration and disbelief that, despite the mass marches and protests, we were off to war," Mr Sheerin said. "We thought it was a ridiculous process that needed to be ridiculed."
After two years of tinkering Mr Sheerin and Mr Tompkins were ready to find a producer; friends helped raise the £30,000 needed to order the first 5,000 copies from a factory in China.
Most high street stores and toy fairs declined to stock the game; those managers who expressed initial interest were overruled by head office.
"The manager of the local Borders bookshop in Cambridge thought it was a great idea and wanted to trial it," said Mr Sheerin. "A day before it was due to appear, head office said not to stock it. That happened time and time again." Zavvi was on the verge of becoming the first major high street store to stock the game and ordered 5,000 copies last year. But a subsequent decision was made to withdraw it, forcing the store to return the order.
A spokesman for Zavvi said the group had bought the game when it was part of the Virgin Megastore network. "We don't censor our products. The game just wasn't selling."
Rules of the game
The game is for two to six players.
All players begin with fledgling empires on a world map which they expand through the acquisition of land, oil and cities. At any time players can abandon the "pursuit of liberty and oil" in favour of becoming a terror state – or they are designated a terror state by a random "Axis of Evil" spinner.
Empires can also train their own terrorists to target rival empires, although these groups often turn on you later in the game. Terrorists can use special cards such as "suicide bomber", "plane hijack" and "WMDs" to advance themselves. Empires rely on tactics such as "espionage", "regime change" and forcing other empires to sign up to the Kyoto protocol to bankrupt their competitors. "The idea is to encourage the sort of short-term, selfish thinking that led us into war," says Andrew Sheerin, the co-creator of the game.
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Comments
29 Comments
it's a game.
what's next,sitting around talking about such things will get you in trouble?
Posted by salome | 25.08.08, 07:45 GMT
HAHA great idea for a game.
If the wearing of a beard is a crime then all the little girls dressing up as tinkerbell and snow white with wigs and makeup and painted faces need to be locked up to.
Whats next calling mousetrap a threatening contraption?
Posted by brainofjfk | 24.08.08, 09:05 GMT
Where in the US can I buy this game. It sounds like fun, and your Government sounds like Major Paranoia on behalf of all the luneys worried that if children or adults play this game, they're going to get ideas that might hurt your country. Nonesnese, you guys are over the limit, you're definately batty & nuts...Good Lord, what the hell is happening to England...take a good look at your own history and tell me and the rest of the free world that it hasn't been filled with 800 years of vilolence and blood to keep your Empire!!! Come on you people, this is ridiculous, you guys are really to politically correct and incrediably paranoid. You'll let the violent extremest Muslims say and do what they want, but you won't let your citizens play a simple board game. Oh boy, I truly feel sorry for your society!!!! You are all being robbed of your freedoms!!! God Bless all of you for a better tomorrow in your country, Ed.
Posted by ed | 23.08.08, 20:55 GMT
Do not want the people to learn how governments really operate.
Posted by Ed | 23.08.08, 16:43 GMT
Government and the police attract the rogues in society. Good honest hard working people get the crumbs. I am a millionaire and I can see amazing levels of corruption in government when I have dealings with them. I see government as the biggest danger facing the people of Britain right now.
Posted by Jimbo | 23.08.08, 16:24 GMT
I think the reason that the game just doesn't seem to quite make it into the stores is because the 'powers that be' are suffering from 'the emperor has no clothes' syndrome.
Posted by Tommie Miller | 23.08.08, 15:16 GMT
I've played the game, it won't make me a terrorist, it's a game, it doesn't even promote terrorism though that is the easiest way to win the game! OK, it's not the best game in the world but it's more fun than Monopoly!
Posted by Paul | 23.08.08, 09:14 GMT
so are they going to ban balaclavas being sold altogether. The real probelm we have with "authority" eg police, is that they have lost the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong...
Posted by zazu | 23.08.08, 04:13 GMT
Maybe Playboy should sell the game. They aren't afraid of selling products that people don't appreciate.
If they can sell their vice without censorship, maybe they could sell the game without censorship either.
Posted by iThink | 22.08.08, 19:47 GMT
I am particulary amused that the most recent post is from a man whose family name is Rothschild, given that they are arguably "the European Police State's" main benefactors. Sorry Mr S Rothschild, maybe it is simply a simple coincidence, but not being a "coincidence theorist", that is amusing and hard to believe respectively.
"Your" thoughts are next, do not cry and moan when "the state" shoots you for having thoughts.
As an aside, please see "The State, the Intellectuals, and the Role of Anti-Intellectual-Intellectuals" By Hanns-Herman-Hoppe, Mises Institute".
Peace and Respect to each and every one of you - even the Americans among you.
Posted by Eyes Wide Open | 22.08.08, 19:27 GMT
So, the cops think that the balaclava"could be used to conceal someone's identity or could be used in the course of a criminal act". Well, my gun "could be used to kill someone or be used in the course of a criminal act". So flippin' what?
Posted by jdogg92056, California | 22.08.08, 17:23 GMT
Fantastic publicity! Isn't it wonderful how this works. A simple little game becomes a newspaper headline by the actions of the fat controllers. They couldn't have wished for a better outcome.
Posted by Paul | 22.08.08, 17:16 GMT
What a gaming idea! Sounds like modern era Risk!
Nothing like passing the time with a good board game while drawing attention to one of the many woes of the world.
Confiscated? Sounds like the same law enforcement going on in pre-convention Denver here in the States. They're on the lookout for such threatening items as maps, bikes, protest sign handles and other such terrorist equipment. I thought we in the U.S. were the only ones heading for a police state, but looks like you folks know the tune.
Peace to all!
Posted by william | 22.08.08, 16:18 GMT
"When the people fear the government you have tyranny...when the government fears the people you have liberty." - Thomas Jefferson ...
Posted by BrianTim | 22.08.08, 16:10 GMT
I am grateful that the plod have brought this obviously insightful and inherently honest product to my attention. I plan to order a copy immediately.
Posted by revolutionary gamer | 22.08.08, 16:05 GMT
Make a free online version of the game. Most people are incapable of any kind of critical thinking at this point. Maybe they can learn through a game.
There will be no money in this project but what price tag do you place on freedom?
Posted by Bubba | 22.08.08, 16:00 GMT
Holy smokes! Will I be arrested when I wear my balaclava under my motorcycle helmet this winter?? Oh, it's only the UK that's doing this. You Limeys sure do have weird cops, almost as weird as ours!
Posted by BOB THE GRAPE | 22.08.08, 15:53 GMT
Here in the USA, police can be described one of two ways:
1) Thugs with Badges.
2) Janitors with Guns.
Neither group is known for any intellectual prowess.
Posted by J. | 22.08.08, 15:43 GMT
thought crime is moral hypocrisy in action
Posted by mark | 22.08.08, 14:38 GMT
Well lets face it the cops are not the sharpest tack in the box and they would come up with a assinine explanation as some one could hide something to do something.
Posted by uncle brownie | 22.08.08, 14:16 GMT
29 Comments