Blog Archives
Space-Cast! #40. Heading Flint
Politics! There’s no avoiding them. In today’s space-cast, we’re joined by John du Bois to talk about two of his designs that encourage political awareness and human empathy: Heading Forward, about recovering from a traumatic head injury, and Striking Flint, focused on the 1936 General Motors sit-down strike. Along the way, we cover topics ranging from triggers and spoons to the banning of Matteo Menapace from the Spiel des Jahres.
Listen here or download here. Timestamps can be found after the jump.
Stand Up by Sitting Down!
We all feel it. Told to work faster, work harder, produce more, keep that line flying till it’s near vertical. Shown the lives we could lead if we earned enough, big houses that overlook smaller houses, seats at the foot of the owner’s table, whining for scraps. Threatened with losing everything — our roofs, our kids, our health — if we don’t keep our heads down and play along.
In 1934, the CEO of General Motors, Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., took home one hundred times the average American wage. That’s one of many tidbits written into the margins of Striking Flint, John du Bois’s latest title and spiritual partner to Heading Forward. Like that earlier game, which pitted the player’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury against the deadlines of a health insurance company, Striking Flint offers an empathetic glimpse into an overlooked reality of American livelihood. It begins with the 1936-7 General Motors sit-down strike of Flint, Michigan.
SPACE-BIFF! 