ORIENTALISM AND ABSTRACTION IN EUROGAMES

This essay suggests that board games contribute to Orientalism, shaping what the East is to the West through abstraction and the politics of erasure. While it is not the intent to argue for or against this practice, this essay reveals the political representations of transnational history in play. It is argued that this form of representation is not necessarily the result of overt ideology, but rather of the formal properties of the board game medium as such. It is dangerous to laud game design based on form and function without consideration for its political ramifications. To demonstrate as much, this essay uses Paolo Mori’s Vasco da Gama (2009) as an emblematic case study.