No, I'm not talking about gamers taking steroids so they can lift up their copy Caverna in one hand, but games that have drugs linked in with the gameplay . Are you more or less likely to buy or play a game that has a theme or mechanics that contain illegal drugs or drug dealing? Is it acceptable now that we have had any number of TV programs and video games that feature or focus on drugs or is it still taboo as board gaming is traditionally seen as wholesome family entertainment? Have there been any successful games that use this theme?
I ask because I have a game concept that I feel works well with a drug dealing theme, but don't know whether to try and develop it further or try and think of another theme (so far nothing suitable has come to be, but possibly just because I'm comfortable with the theme so feel no 'need' to think of something different). I thought it would be interesting to get some other views on it.
My idea is as follows:
Play takes place on a board depicting a network of cities. Each player takes control of a gang. They start in one city with a production facility for one of 5 drug types. Drugs, once manufactured, can be sold at the black market or later for greater profit through one of your specialised distribution networks. Any drug deal will attract an amount of heat from the police depending on the type of drug and the amount being sold so decisions will have to be made on how much will be sold and how many gang members to commit to making sure the deal goes smoothly. Profits from deals made can be used to expand production and distribution facilities through the locations on the board with the aim of becoming the dominant force in either a particular drug trade or location (determined at the start by drawing hidden agenda cards).
Any thoughts on the game idea/retheming or the general concept of drugs in games?
Thanks for replying, and in such a constructive way :)
A few things that I hadn't thought about, particularly in terms of racial stereotyping in the artwork. I am envisaging a worker placement type of game where each player is the head of the gang and they place their coloured meeples rather than having cards depicting a range of characters, so am sort of bypassing that problem at the moment but it is an issue that I will have to confront when (if) I reach the general board/manual artwork.
Bootleggers looks like an interesting game and seems to have a bit of support around it but like you say, the rest of that list looks pretty poor. Even if it is a small niche it looks like one that could be filled well with the right game without a great deal of competition - making the dubious assumption that I'm actually going to be able to come up with a solid game ;)