INTRODUCTION
Eureka is, according to the marketing, a game about narrative, intrigue and mystery, produced by ANIM (Agency of Narrative Intrigue and Mystery). It is a neo-noir modern fantasy game, with the default setting
being the USAmerican south in modern day but with nothing preventing players from setting it anywhere in the USA within the past two hundred years or so. The authors are very opinionated on the game's nature,
what it is about, how it should be played and who it is for. In these opinions, it becomes apparent that "who the game is for" does not include large swathes of black gamers. The game has a primarily white suburbia
characteristic to it, focusing on cultural touchstones such as the X-Files and Kolchak the Night Stalker over Shaft or the works of Chester Himes. This is not unusual for a TTRPG. The space and community that
have sprung up around role playing games is white, it is USAmerican and it is suburban. What was unusual was the vitriol that I received from the developer team when they asked for my thoughts and I responded
that the game was exclusionary.
At the time that I was reading the book, I was a member of the ANIM led TTRPG book club. Ostensibly, the purpose of the book club was to review and play TTRPGs, to broaden the horizons of gamers who might
not be familiar with independent works and how varied they can be. For me, it is important to my creativity and life that I analyze works that I read or participate in. I do so from a black and anti-imperialist
perspective, focusing on the ways that black people are excluded from TTRPG culture as much as I do on the quality of the mechanics and ludonarrative of a game. While I was a member, I mentioned that I had
completed the book and I was asked by one of the leader writers what my opinions on the game were. I gave a short and honest review. I said that, in my perspective as a black queer gamer, that the book is
exclusive to black players. I stressed that I believed this to be an accident. Immediately, the writer team were defensive and I was dogpiled by them and their friends in the community. I was accused of making
up accusations of racism to harm and financially deprieve the development team who rely on the game of their income. I was told that my actions were killing them, directly by the team's own words. I was told
that I did not understand racism, that I was discrimatory against white people and insisted they "prove" themselves to me and had my vernacular mocked in a transparently racist manner. Then, I was banned from
the server and members were told that I wanted the team to "grovel" for my forgiveness because they "disagreed with my review".
I have not been unbanned nor have I received an apology. There were suggestions that I would be unbanned, eventually, and would receive an apology, eventually, but I have received no date on when
these events are to occur. As of October 4th 2024, the development team have not even contacted me. Because of this, I am not comfortable leaving out the racist treatment I received from my review. It is
my responsibility to fellow black people to inform accurately if there is a dangerous, racist situation. Being accused of harming a white person, is dangerous. In the real world, it gets black people killed.
Luckily, in an online space, usually the worst you face is harassment. And I was not harassed by the fans' of the developers. Many of the server members saw what had happened and agreed that my treatment was
unfair and based in antiblack sentiments. I am truly grateful to everyone who spoke up on my behalf.
The majority of this review will be about the content of the game. My primary issues with the game are the bloated combat system, ludonarrative dissonance, the narrative and mechanical role of the monster
"classes" and the exclusion of black culture from the setting. However, I think that the treatment I received is pertinent to the nature of the review and core to understanding the text of the book. The game
world presents a self centered place where it is acceptable and tragic to sacrifice the lives of other people for your own. This is supported by the narrative, the mechanics and by the author's opinion, all
of which are printed in the book. I see a clear connection between the way the narrative constructs violence and nonviolence with the way I was treated in their space. While books do not reflect one to one
the viewpoints of their authors, they do reflect some of them, things that the authors may not even be aware are being communicated. In the TTRPG space, I can think of no better modern example than "Eureka",
of which demonstrated the beliefs of the team well before I had spoken to them.