Unsettling Settlers An Interview with Golboo Amani

Few people question the socio-political biases embedded in the games they play. And yet, because games are part of our popular media culture, they reflect and codify societal norms, often reinforcing problematic views in the guise of inconsequential play. Golboo Amani is a multi-disciplinary artist who situates part of her social-pedagogy practice on the ready-made site of a board game. Her work Unsettling Settlers: Intervention directly challenges the colonial narrative of the popular board game Settlers of Catan by leveraging the game’s capacity to disseminate ideas about trade, capital and colonization experientially through simulations of various economic and political strategies (resource extraction, territory takeover, construction, theft, warfare). Amani’s “intervention pack” for the game includes new pieces, cards and rules that allow players to work through strategies of allyship through peer-produced aesthetic experiences that combine game play with critical reflection.

For several years was only circulated through “play test” sessions. Amani is now releasing an artist multiple of the intervention game, which I had the opportunity to preview when I met with the artist in Toronto to discuss its evolution. The aesthetics of the current design are a radical departure from previous versions of the intervention pack. “I wanted to create something that felt really new and fresh, but also really distinct, so when the game is being played on the board, we can identify the difference between the intervention pack and the base game,” Amani explains. Her motivation behind the new aesthetic is