Description
Why do we play games? To have fun, relieve stress, distract ourselves from the ‘real world’? Or to expand our knowledge, demonstrate our prowess against others, or even plan for war? When it comes to historical role-playing games (HRPGs), another layer is added; such ‘games’ can help us reclaim the past, rewrite loss, understand the present, and script the future. Promised as the next in a series of boardgames that put the player into asymmetrical conflict/counter-insurgency gameworlds, Compass Games’ The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland 1964-1996 is a card-driven simulation focused on paramilitary and security force conflict that engages ‘national and international political affairs that saw the British Army undertake the longest deployment in its military history – on its own streets’. Are we ready to play a game about the 20,000 lives lost in the Troubles? If so, who will you play? UDR, PIRA, or the RUC? Will you support or oppose Ulsterisation? Will you grass? How will you fundraise? What are ‘legitimate targets’? Our paper examines the game’s design and potential player intentionality in the context of the conflict, from the seeking of synthetic experiences (mindset reorientation, guilt-purging, catharsis) to politicised play wherein gamers seek agentic feedback loops by placing themselves in the geopolitical imaginary of the Troubles, while operating within established historical structures of the era.
