I designed Ancestree to be a gateway game based on a normally complex theme: genealogy and family lineages. Aesthetically and thematically, I wanted to go with a "historical" vibe. It seemed cool.
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In the game, there are many ways to score points by drafting family member tiles and placing them in your family tree. Pertinent to this thread, however, is one point scoring method: Marriages. You score at the end of the game for each successful marriage.
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My original version of the game used linked wedding rings to illustrate this point. And marriage was between a man and woman only. Because historical. We played it a bunch, the game was quite fun. Left it at that.
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I distinctly remember bringing out the prototype at a gaming event in Copenhagen, Denmark. It got great reception, but one gamer was visibly uncomfortable. I asked how he felt about the game. He replied, "it's fine, but why discriminate?"
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Discriminate?! Obviously my reaction was defensive, but I wanted to know more. It became clear that, to this gentleman, the game was making a statement about the validity of his lifestyle. He didn't complain about it until I asked, but I could tell it affected him deeply.
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I brought out the "but historical" argument. I wasn't making a statement about the validity of various marriages. But given the situation and context, my conviction was shaken. It bothered me for the rest of the event. For days after.
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As a lefty who strongly supports marriage equality, was I really making a hypocritical statement with the game? If so, why was that? Did the "but historical" argument really hold water in a light family game where "simulationist" appeal was minimal at best? It really bothered me.
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I talked to many of my LGBTQ friends about it, and yup, most felt somewhat marginalized by the game, even though nobody vocalized it during our hundreds of play tests. "Why didn't you bring it up?" I wanted to ask. But then realized; why is that burden on them? It bothered me.
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I made a change to the game to make marriages of all types open. Removing the rings and making it about "love" - two hearts that combine. Same sex, polygamous, doesn't matter. Love is love. Redid some of the core scoring math and decided to test it. See what happens.
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A single play blew me away. The game play IMPROVED BY A HUGE MARGIN. HUGE. MARGIN. The fun of Ancestree is the silly story you can make about your crazy family and how visually different all the trees look at the end of the game. Visual variety increased multifold. Huge win.
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I continued to tweak the game, messing around with the scoring math, and the variety just kept increasing. The endgame stories got zanier, the conversation livelier. And nobody gave a flying fuck about "but historical." GAMEPLAY FIRST.
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I'd like to think that I would have done this experiment on my own, but that's ego talking. I owe a huge debt to my brave friend in Copenhagen, Denmark, for challenging me. Ancestree remains a favourite of my play testers, and I'm so proud of it. In every way.
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This thread is for those of you who think your voice may not matter. I'm here to tell you it matters more than anything. We, designers and publishers, hear you. Loud and clear. We're gonna get better at this. One game at a time. Thanks to you.
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