I don't know whether I have any more of these in me

November 28, 2023 1:32 PM

The industry side of the game is called the Company, but I came very, very close to calling it Capitalism because the tobacco industry isn't exceptional. The way it pursued profits at the expense of human lives wasn't some kind of mustache-twirling villainy. It is the consequence of capitalism and its incentives. And even if I ultimately decided to swerve from the name, I did want to reflect those incentives – the unsustainable and amoral pursuit of maximum profits, of infinite growth. from Doubt Is Our Product, or A Game About Tobacco Disinformation by Amabel Holland
posted by chavenet (9 comments total)

CW: Graphic description of her father’s death from lung cancer
posted by zamboni at 2:00 PM on November 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

Wow.

Okay, this essay is a little long (not too long at all, just longer than I can read in five minutes), so I haven't finished it yet, but it is VERY compelling, and raw, and moving, and valuable.

I don't get to play nearly as many board games as I might like, and I've never tried to design one, but I love this piece -

I love it when people create something that means so much to them, something they've devoted so much of themselves to.

I love it when someone is able to become more fully themself, to become free of things that have been hiding them from the world, or holding them back.

And while I personally seek out signs of progress and triumph, as fuel to keep me working toward a better world, I also deeply value truth, and the way Holland has worked and cared to reveal and hold the dichotomy between triumph and despair - there IS triumph, but still so much death; there IS progress, but it's not enough - is inspiring in a different and necessary way.

This is an amazing essay about what sounds like an amazing game, a triumph of expression.

I am really glad to know about Holland - and her tragedy, and her art, but mostly just about her, her existence and herself.

Thank you so much for posting this, chavenet. I am looking forward to re-reading it, and to finding out about her other work as well.
posted by kristi at 2:28 PM on November 28, 2023 [5 favorites]

It’s quite a powerful essay. I’m still digesting the design ideas, but the impetus….
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:24 PM on November 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Related: Merchants of Doubt by Conway and Oreskes. (Their other book, The Big Myth, is also an eye-opener, but not tobacco-related.)
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:35 PM on November 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

I wish the octogenarian smoker I know would quit.

I love Amabel even more than I already did.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:08 PM on November 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was actually thinking about doing a post on Kaiju Table Battles but you beat me to it :) Folks who found this design diary interesting should check out that game and the design diary too, it's a lighter theme for a game on the surface but actually it's deeper than it looks and very thoughtfully designed, and is a beautifully queer game, I highly recommend it. I haven't played Doubt is our product and I think I'll pass on it as I've got a lot of games to play, but Amabel Holland is a national treasure and the board game hobby is lucky to have her. Worth noting that Hollandspiele is doing their annual sale through Friday
posted by okonomichiyaki at 8:15 PM on November 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Suffering for your art is a real thing. If this wasn’t on a recognized game forum I would have accepted this as good fiction if it were that. I still cant quite believe this game is real but I now I must have it.

I am stunned by the teaching possibilities of two games in one the way this game is described.

Both large topics, the game and the hormonal shift, were like parallel tracks of inevitability due to existential burdens. I found that pretty artful on its own. I need to re-read it to see if there was a damage/catharsis ratio in there.
posted by drowsy at 5:18 AM on November 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

In a similar vein, SU&SD just released a 45 minute (!!) deep dive into the board game 'John Company', wherein the players tackle the political and economic machinations of rival families exerting control over the East India Company and exploiting the Indian populace ruthlessly. The game is very explicitly a critique and analysis of empire and colonialism, and the review digs into just what the historical context is for this and other colonialism-steeped games. Very interesting stuff!
posted by FatherDagon at 11:42 AM on November 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you for posting this!! I made the digital library of tobacco industry documents at UCSF and this result makes me so happy.
posted by Riverine at 2:44 PM on December 1, 2023