Legal Niches

Union Labor vs. Independents in Crane Wars

By gamepolitics

Here at GamePolitics we're always up for an issue-oriented game.

And while we can't recall another offering based on the conflict between union labor and independent workers, Crane Wars, currently featured at Blurst, explores the never-ending conflict between the two groups.

With Toronto suffering through a strike by sanitation workers, The Star found particular relevance in Crane Wars' labor theme. Designer Steve Swink, who possesses a political science degree and a fascination with the labor movement, spoke to the newspaper about his game:

We're soft on the Union for sure but we make coy little jabs at both sides. Your money, for instance, is constantly decreasing to the point of motion blur to remind you that you're running a Union shop, and doing work is EXPENSIVE.

 

We definitely wanted the controls and gameplay pacing to reflect real cranes, at least so far as they are unwieldy, slow-moving machines that take a lot of skill. It's not an easy job, and the folks doing it certainly deserve much respect...

As a small indie shop that is free of publishers and can set our own hours, I think health care would be the thing that interests us most. The big question mark with labour organization though is how it would affect prices of games for players.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on June 29, 2009 (boomark / email).