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We Showed Up
Tabletop gaming is growing more diverse every day.
So why isn't that reflected in how games are marketed?
by Jay Wil
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The author and his daughter
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A few years ago at Gen Con I was sitting while my wife perused Artist’s Alley, when an older gentleman sat down and struck up a conversation.
His brown hair was a mess, and his outfit was Standard Issue Gen Con: tan pants, Chuck Taylors, and a green shirt with a red d20 on it. But beneath his black rim glasses was a wide inviting smile.
I didn't find his friendliness odd…one of the things I love most about Gen Con is how you meet new people all the time. We politely exchanged news of what games we’d seen or played that day, and we casually got to know each other a little. I found out that he was a self-proclaimed old school gamer, who claimed to have attended every Gen Con ever.
Afterwards, he asked quietly if he could ask a personal question. I was nervous where he was going with this…we’d had a pleasant enough chat but you never know what strangers might be up to. After a moment I said sure. His question surprised me: “How do you feel, as a young Black man, about the lack of representation in this industry?”
I paused, not sure how to put my answer into words. I had thought about it a lot, of course, but I'd never had anyone ask my opinion about it. I certainly didn't expect a white man in his fifties to be the first, but I could tell his question wasn’t meant to be insulting or facetious. He was genuinely interested in my response.
My answer wasn’t complicated: “It’s disheartening.”
When I first starting playing tabletop games, back during the days of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, I was always the only Black person at the table. Unfortunately, none of my Black friends were interested in D&D or Pokemon. They didn’t dream of fighting dragons on Krynn, or being the very best like no one ever was; they dreamed of being NBA stars or hip-hop artists.
But the thing is, my friends weren’t that different from me. They were competitive and smart and loved a challenge…I knew they’d be all about these games if they just gave them a chance. But nothing about the games—from the themes to the art to the marketing—spoke to them. Nothing told them that the games I loved were made with young Black men in mind.
From my earliest days as a gamer, there’s always been a lack of people who look like me in games media or advertising. Now, I understand that the goal of cover art and advertising is to appeal to a target consumer, no matter what the actual player base may look like. But that doesn't excuse the relative lack of Black players in game marketing.
This is especially frustrating because that lack of diversity doesn’t reflect real life. These days, every time I attend a convention or a game night at my local store, I see minorities playing, crafting, storytelling, and enjoying everything this hobby has to offer. Could there be more gamers of color involved in tabletop gaming? Oh, absolutely! But we’re already here in ways you’d never be able to tell from just looking at mainstream coverage in the hobby.
The author playing Mysterium
After listening to me talk, the man expressed his frustration with the situation as well, remarking how he wants the industry to appeal to every demographic. He told me about a childhood friend he’d gamed with for decades, a Black man who had been mistaken for a robbery suspect and shot dead in the street. It had happened a few years in the past, and he still teared up telling me about it.
We talked for a while longer, but then my wife was finished looking at art and we said our goodbyes. We’d talked for only about fifteen minutes, but that interaction— an open, heartfelt conversation about race with a man I didn't know—has always stuck with me. He and I were very different people, but in the end we had so much in common: we both loved games and we both wanted the next generation of players to be from all walks of life. I wish more people had an opportunity like this, to talk about these issues in a safe environment.
Getting young Black men and women to embrace tabletop gaming is crucial to bringing new ideas and new perspectives to the hobby. As I said, over the last few years we’ve made a few steps in the right direction.
But we need the tabletop industry to understand that Black gamers are already here. We’re playing in game rooms, basements, and local game stores. We’re online, we’re in tournaments, and we’re at conventions. But where we aren’t is on game boxes or in advertising.
Tabletop industry, we showed up. And now it’s time for you to reflect reality in your marketing. Help us Black gamers show our friends and family that this hobby is for them, too. ⚛
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Jay Wil is a lifelong lover of games (from video to tabletop), a writer with a passion for storytelling, and a disciple of all things Mel Brooks. Milwaukee born and raised, Jay is a world-travelled country boy. He's a member of the RPG podcast Midnight Kingdoms and you can follow him on Twitter at @Batoesi. He hopes to one day see all of you at his table.
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