![]() ![]() However, despite several publications in outlets such as the open-access journal Analog Game Studies, this popular trend has yet to be matched by academic literature in the board games (tabletop or analogue games) domain ( Wilson, 2015) something that is all the more important given the growing size of this segment of the market ( Jolin, 2016). The popularity of digital games has triggered considerable academic effort into analysing how these popular culture artefacts touch upon issues that are related directly or indirectly to colonial themes and the ways in which these games construct various conceptions of space, race, identity, political systems, ethics, and society through historical re-enactment and representations ( Brock, 2011 Chapman, 2016 Hammar, 2017 Higgin, 2008 Lammes, 2010 Langer, 2008 Magnet, 2006 Martin, 2016 Mukherjee, 2016 Poor, 2012 Vrtacic, 2014 Young, 2016). With all its intricate processes, colonialism, both as an ideology and a historical period, has been a rich source of inspiration for contemporary popular culture, whether in the form of movies, novels, digital games, or analogue games. ![]() ![]() In so doing, the article attempts to raise awareness about how these games (mis)represent colonial realities and relations. The analysis investigates the denotative and connotative meanings of game rules, game mechanics, artwork, and tiles, critically assessing how these might influence the player’s cultural, social, and aesthetic experience of the ideological and historical context. Building on John McLeod’s definition of colonialism and interpretation of colonial economies, Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism, and Gayatri Spivak’s theory of subalternity, this comparative study examines representations of: a) the otherness of colonial subjects in relation to colonisers b) indigenous peoples’ agency and subaltern voice c) expressions of the indigenous culture and d) Eurocentrism. On, where users have ranked more than 87,000 board games and extensions, these three are in the top three-hundred overall, with more than 3,000 votes each. These three games are simulation, strategy type Eurogames, with rules designed to emulate and reproduce two time periods: first-wave European colonialism ( Puerto Rico Archipelago) and 18th-century European colonial expansion ( Struggle of Empires). ![]() This article presents a critical analysis of colonial representations in three examples of the latter: Puerto Rico (2002), Struggle of Empires (2004), and Archipelago (2012). ![]()
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