Water Cooler Games - Destroy Zimbabwe in Simbabwe 1.0

Destroy Zimbabwe in Simbabwe 1.0
September 2, 2005 - by Ian Bogost

Simbabwe 1.0 is a satirical commentary on contemporary politics in Zimbabwe by Australian developers The Daily Grind. The developers call the game, available only on Mac OS X, a "strategic board game." Players take the role of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and Rhodesian Front bigwigs. The player competes to seize property and rise to power through nepotism and oppression.

Welcome to Simbabwe, where the property is already owned and the houses built and you compete to burn and dispossess them. Bounce around the map plundering farms, denying grain silos to opposition supporters and robbing the community chest.

I'm normally cynical about videogames that remediate board-games, but here the developers are using the Monopoly-style board game as a lever for their satire, relying on and overturning our expectations in that environment (we rob the community chest instead of obtaining general benefit from it). In case you forgot, The Daily Grind are the folks who also brought us Kimdom Come and Detox, equally satirical social commentaries.

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Comment from at on October 14, 2005

This game is negative and perpetuates the centuries old belief that Africans arenot capable of self governance. I think the developers should creat a game that demostarate the systematic suppression of the native people of Australia and their culture through racist policies. Shame on you.

Comment from Flame on March 28, 2006

This game is mushi shamwari.

My gaden boy finias and me had a great time playing.

It was lacker.

I am not understanding why him above is so upset; shame on you for not making a PC version!

Comment from April on October 17, 2006

Have you ever considered that the reason why there is a centuries' old belief that Africans are not capable of self governance, is because no african country has successfully achieved self-governance?

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