A few weeks ago, Matthew Melissa Makak of Room 51 posted a video about representation and inclusion in reference to the game Everdell. Given that June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, I wanted to share this incredibly important video and a comment I made on the video. Let’s start with the video itself:
After watching the video and digesting Matthew’s insights about the husband and wife cards in Everdell, I wrote the following in the comments:
Thank you so much for creating this video. It made me think of a game of mine that makes the same error, and I wanted to admit to that error, apologize for it, and let you know about the solution we’re implementing. In 2014 when I put Tuscany (an expansion to Viticulture) on Kickstarter, I included something called “mama and papa cards”. At the beginning of the game, each player gets a random mama card (a pink card) and a random papa card (a blue card), and those determine your starting cards, coins, and workers. They’re designed so all mamas give you workers and cards, and all papas give you some money and a choice between more money or a starting structure.
Mamas and papas eventually became integrated into the Viticulture Essential Edition, which has been the only version of Viticulture available since 2015. Several times over the years, people have mentioned to me that they weren’t a fan of the heteronormative aspect of the mamas and papas, and while I completely agree with them, I wasn’t sure about how to fix it.
Before I get to the solution, I wanted to say I’m sorry. My goal is to create games the bring joy to all types of tabletops worldwide, and the heteronormativity exhibited by the mama and papa cards is directly counter to that goal. I truly am sorry for that.
We’ve been working on a Viticulture expansion for a while now, and it should be ready for release in 2022. During the design process, I finally figured out a solution for the mama and papa problem. It’s such an obvious solution that I feel quite dumb for not thinking of it sooner. Basically, we’re including new mamas and papas (not replacements–they’re brand-new cards that can be used by themselves or shuffled into the original deck) that are reversed. That is, all of the new papas are pink cards that provide you with starting workers and cards, and all new mamas are blue cards that provide you with coins and a choice between more coins or a starting structure.
The intent is for people to shuffle all the cards together, meaning that you could randomly end up with two mamas, two papas, or a mama and a papa. But it will also be super easy to, say, remove all male papa cards so that you always have mama-mama pairings.
I hope this solution is a step in the right direction, and it’s something that will be on my mind (and has been on my mind) for as long as Stonemaier Games remains a publisher. Thank you for the insights and inspiration you provided in this video.
At the time, I shared the video in the Viticulture Facebook group, where there were a number of touching comments. There’s one in particular I want to highlight here: “As a gay man growing up in Idaho & Utah, this kind of thing hits EXTREMELY close. Even my closest friend with whom I do my most in-depth boardgaming with but also a good 70% of game plays with, feels this is a non-issue, and even an annoyance to bring up. I truly want to thank you for recognizing that it makes people feel included, thought of, and visible. I spent 32 years being invisible to all who ‘knew’ me, and I’m anything but invisible now.”
To Kevin, LGBTQ+ gamers, Matthew at Room 51, and other LGBTQ+ content creators like Amy and Maggie at ThinkerThemer, Tylor and Ilya at Kovray Studios, and Nersi at Nersi Games, I’m so glad you’re part of this hobby, and I’m committed to ensuring you are visible and represented in the worlds of Stonemaier Games.
In the comments, feel free to highlight elements in games from other publishers that break away from heteronormativity.
Addendum: In the comments, Lisa mentioned the relative lack of ethnic diversity among the original mamas and papas and asked if that would be addressed in the expansion. I replied: “Indeed! The reason (not a good reason, but a reason nonetheless) for the lack of diversity in the original mamas and papas is that it was custom art paid for by any Stonemaier ambassadors who wanted to be in the game (a few of them are also my family members). I stopped offering custom art rewards after that for that reason. The mamas and papas in the expansion are much more diverse.”
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50 Comments on “Mamas, Papas, and Pride”
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This is why Stonemaier games will always be my favorite games. Not only are they well designed, not only do they look beautiful, and not only are they very enjoyable, but also the designer behind them is such a cool person. Thank you for listening to feedback and taking it seriously.
[…] thanks to Matthew Makak of Room 51 for inspiring positive change like this through their content and to Dan Street-Phillips for taking […]
I hope that the cards aren’t only available in a purchase expansion. It feels like something this important should be a free upgrade to anyone with the base game.
We don’t offer expansion content ala carte, but anyone who wants the cards is welcome to buy the expansion.
Hi Jamey,
I stumbled across this post when looking for bits of info related to the new expansion. I really enjoy Viticulture and was happy to receive Tuscany for Christmas!
This sounds like an interesting solution and a sensible one for the mama and papa cards. It would have always been a better solution to have two people regardless of gender being in a personal (or otherwise entirely professional relationship) manning the vineyard.
I’m wondering what the art solution will be for these new cards though? On the whole, the art direction and aesthetics for the Viticulture series have always been great. The only weak point has been the art for some of the cards that I understand were originally based on photos submitted by Kickstarter backers.I know that SU&SD somewhat cruelly lambasted the art for the visitor cards in their original review of the game (and maybe were a bit crude in their initial review), but they weren’t wrong that the visitor cards (and subsequently the mama and papa cards) still look weird and are the least satisfying part of the games visual design. Are the cards going to follow the same design?
Personally, I would freshly illustrated sets of visitor and mama and papa cards that have a more subtle design in keeping with the rest of the board game,
I understand why diversity and inclusion is important, but both the visual aspect of the visitor cards, as well as the very modern set of names on the mama and papa cards, have always undermined the flavour and setting of the game for me, because none of it feels true to what I understand to be “pre-Modern Tuscany”. They don’t really complement the theme of the rest of the game. Maybe I have misinterpreted the theme or am applying my own prejudice though. Happy to be corrected.
Keep up the good work, and I look forward to this upcoming expansion, as well as what you have in store for Wingspan this year.
The pink and blue cards in this expansion look exactly the same as the original game, except that men are on pink cards and women are on blue cards.
So are they new faces of other people done in the same style, or have previous faces been reused?
So do the cards have reused faces and names from previous cards, or have new portraits been done of other people in the same style?
Sorry if this comment comes through twice.
New people in the same style.
Thank you for going the extra mile Jamey. As a tip though you might want to avoid the color associations in future designs, the blue and pink still unintentionally assign man and woman roles to non-hetrosexual couples (which is a harmful stereotype).
Generally speaking I am fine with specifying males and females when the mechanic is thematically tied to breeding. Keep up the good work.
I completely agree about pink and blue. Hopefully these new cards will break the mold a little bit, as there will be men on pink cards and women on blue cards. :)
May I suggest having both versions (original and LGBTQ) of the game.
Well, the original version of the game already exists, and there is no LGBTQ version of the game. There are male-female pairings in the original game and female-male pairings in the expansion. It is when you combine cards in the game with the cards in the expansion that you can have male-male, female-female, and male-female pairings.
If you’re suggesting we have separate versions of the expansion for straight and gay people, I would just as vehemently reject that suggestion as I would if you suggested we return to the era of separate water fountains for white and Black people. We’re all human beings. Love is love, water is water, and cards are cards.
So stoked! Now I get to live my fantasy of running my family’s vineyard to the ground and disappointing both of my dads :P
About half of my game group is queer, and I think we all would deeply appreciate this Viticulture expansion. Such a simple and elegant solution.
Well this expansion just went from a probable purchase to a definite purchase.
Thanks Jamey, clearly a step in the good direction as usual.
One thing that I noticed in your post is that things seem very binary: you are either a mama or a papa (as in, only two possible genders) and each person has two parents.
I understand that for balance purposes you still want it a blue and a pink card, but have you considered having art depicting non-binary genders and/or cards with more than one person (to denote polyamorous relationships?)
Yeah, technically they’ll be called pink and blue cards moving forward. You make a good point about the spectrum of genders and different types of relationships (from single parents to polyamorous, as you mentioned).
One recent example I loved was in Floor Plan. The customer cards that establish the scoring conditions for the game provide the customers’ pronouns next to their names. It has zero effect on gameplay. It’s just there. I was delighted by that.
I’m not sure we need an appology. Times are changing… for the best! People, like you, taking actions for inclusion is way more important and impactfull than appologies. Being part of a community is important, being able to see it represented has a greater impact.
Thank you for your actions!
Thanks so much, Jamey, for taking action to create space for diversity and visibility. I have long been a fan of Viticulture and have also long felt a twinge of frustration by the Mama/Papa set up. Your correction and expansive approach towards inclusion is very welcome and will allow me, a queer/trans person, to be able to play the game with less hesitation.
Thank you for this opportunity to improve, Michelle! I’m sorry it took me so long to solve this problem.
Thanks for this blog Jamey and for helping highlight the issue that Matthew raises with Everdell. As a gay game designer it grates when I see modern games that fail to be inclusive – and also is noticed by my kids.
Good to hear about your plans to address both the hetero-normative and ethnic diversity issues with the Viticulture cards in the forthcoming expansion. I agree with Travis’ point about avoiding the new cards being exclusively male or female – both in terms of artwork and language used. That will help be more inclusive of non-binary and gender fluid people.
Thank you, Jamey!! This post has meant the world to me and thank you for sharing my video with your audience. I hope thta my video can open up a dialogue as that was my intention and I’m so happy to see the effort on your part to be inclusive
Thank you! I love the conversation that your video has inspired, and I sincerely appreciate how open you are to people like me learning, growing, and fixing our mistakes.
I never thought I’d be featured in the SM Blog!
For seriously, though… Thanks again Jamey!
I would’ve brought the next expansion regardless of what it was, especially since I already own the other expansions as well, but this one will be purchased Day 1 of release!
I get that not all LGBT+ people care about this, and that you’re still getting criticism over it from an even wider community, but you have my support… And my heartfelt thanks.
Thanks for commenting on the Facebook post, Kevin–it really moved me.
I feel like board games are like art and is self expression of the artist. You shouldn’t diminish the sense of the game just to appease an audience. Being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, the heteronormativity doesn’t bother me, because I understand that sense of self expressivity. Please don’t speak on behalf of all people just to get more sales.
Just because you are not effected by the heteronormativity, doesn’t mean many others aren’t as well.
And just in case you haven’t been present for the last few years, Jamey had been at the forefront of trying to be inclusive on the hobby -even down to his Facebook groups and comments. To assert that his only reasoning is to profit is a accusatory and unfounded.
At least he’s making a big effort -and he’s not even changing the feel of his games! He has my complete respect.
Samwise: Is there a part of my article that makes it seem like I’m speaking on behalf of all people? I use language throughout the article to make it clear that I’m speaking as myself about Stonemaier Games. I don’t use the words “should” or “shouldn’t,” as that would be indicative of me telling others what to do (but you actually use one such word in your comment: “You shouldn’t diminish the sense of the game just to appease an audience.”)
This is in no way a sales or marketing strategy. Our goal at Stonemaier Games is to bring joy to tabletops worldwide, and if there’s something in our games that impedes that joy, I’m committed to address it.
Jamey, you are right your comment doesn’t speak on behalf of all, but there are just as many people who think similar to me. I appreciate what you’re trying to accomplish, and enjoy your games thoroughly. As a creator though, I wouldn’t want to feel an obligation to change my creation for negative backlash of missing content. That’s really what I’m trying to express.
I appreciate your opinion and your perspective, Samwise. I don’t feel an obligation–I’m always looking to do less unintentional harm and add more joy to people through our games.
Thanks Jamey! Keep doing what you’re doing!
“If I can’t exist even in your imagination…If I can’t exist in a fantasy world…where can I exist? Because I certainly don’t exist in your reality either.”
Very well put.
Sorry, I found the explanation there a little confusing. You say that at the start of the game a player gets one mama (previously pink only) card and one papa (previously blue only) card, but now the mama cards come in blue and papa cards in pink. I’m not clear on how this changes anything unless you mean that at the start of the game you get one pink card and one blue card, irrespective of whether they’re mamas or papas, is that what you meant? Otherwise you’ve still always got one mama and one papa, just a mama who might like blue and a papa who might like pink.
Yes, at the start of the game you’ll get one pink card and one blue card.
I remember the delight in opening the Downforce box and immediately noticing that some of the drivers were women. They’re nameless drivers, with only eyes and the occasional ponytail visible (I’m no F1 driver, but having your ponytail flapping around seems unsafe), but it was a cool inclusion. I, a 40 year old white guy, noticed and thought it was a great addition. More importantly, my 10 year old daughter also noticed, and immediately chose that driver.
This is great Jamey. Its very easy for us straight, cisgender white males to look at this kind of thing and go “that’s not and issue, what’s the big deal”? Its a massive deal. It allows everyone to tell the story of themselves and have representation in the world. Also, I would argue, you could just do away with the female and male representations and create a new deck of starter cards that don’t assign a gender. Like “Elder” cards or “inheritance” cards. IMO. Thanks for being willing to adapt and take on an issue like this to make things more inclusive and welcoming in the world.
Well said, Travis, and that’s a clever solution to consider!
Yeah, perhaps as a thought do a green and purple deck (for the resource spilt) or other colours that are colour blind friendly and do away with the words mama and papa. Then just have a mixture of genders, body types and colours on the cards. The suggestion you’ve made is an amazing start but you’d be surprised to know just how many gender diverse people play games and stepping away from the binary and adding people who aren’t would be a huge step towards inclusion.
We’d like the cards to shuffle into the original decks so there will be a variety of combinations (thematically and mechanically) that emerge. Also, there are already green and purple cards in the game–vine cards and wine order cards. As for the terminology, essentially they’re now just “pink cards” and “blue cards”, which I’m hoping is generic enough for people to apply their own terms to the brief appearance of their ancestors during the setup for Viticulture.
> mixture of genders, body types and colours
Is a great idea, I love game that mix like that. Makes the artwork so much more interesting.
I have family members and a lot of friends in the LGBTQ+ community, and while in principle I like the concept of beginning with different resources and putting faces to one’s fledgling winery project, it has always bothered me that we were basically being forced to select one man and one woman. I think it’s great that you have found a solution to this issue for the new expansion. I’m hoping to see more people of colour in the M & P deck this time around as well.
Lisa: Indeed! The reason (not a good reason, but a reason nonetheless) for the lack of diversity in the original mamas and papas is that it was custom art paid for by any Stonemaier ambassadors who wanted to be in the game (a few of them are also my family members). I stopped offering custom art rewards after that for that reason. The mamas and papas in the expansion are much more diverse.
I have never thought of those “marriages” being a disappointment or pain to some players in the community. It’s so easy to base expectations off of one’s own experiences, but I am learning so much from new friends and content creators like Matthew Melissa. Good job and great explanation!
Two games that immediately come to mind are PARKS and Jurassic Parts, both of which have inclusive elements (for example, PARKS has meeple pairs that are representative of both hetero and homosexual couples and Jurassic Parts has at least one character that uses a they/their in their pronouns on the player mat.) I think that the designer of Jurassic Parts publicly said they wanted the characters to be inclusive!
I love those examples! Thank you for sharing, Claire.
Thank you for this. When my wife and I play Everdell, we keep trying to come up with a way to pair wives and husband cards, but functionality means it never works. The same is true for Viticulture as it stands, since you need supplies from both. I admit, I’ve always been less bothered by Viticulture, which has the common defense of “it was a different time,” than Everdell, which is a fantasy world.
But as your cited commenter notes, it really does make a difference. Especially on such a “trivial” scale as a small game mechanic in Viticulture that you discard after using, that is so missable to straight people, it never fails to hit home. We’re gamers too, and our games can represent us too.
I’m really sorry for missing it and for the hurt it has caused, and I hope the long-overdue solution will help.
It’s good to have representation. I’m an LGBTQ+ gamer and content creator (The Boardgame Rhino on Youtube) and I appreciate your blog post and the video.
Thanks for sharing, Ryan! I’m new to your channel, but I just subscribed. I appreciate you talking about Red Rising on your channel!