Is this a way for the Taiwanese to ward off the fate and demons of mainland China? Clearly, the possibility of Beijing invading their island in the near future is a source of inspiration for the Taiwanese entertainment industry.
Following the presentation, at the beginning of the summer, of a television series that should be broadcast in 2025 and will depict Beijing’s military takeover of the island, a board game, called “2045”, is now being developed. Here again, it is a Taiwanese company, Mizo Games, that is at the helm to design it.
The opposite of a cooperative game
The series and the game therefore share the same common thread: Beijing’s desire to reunify its territory and to do so by force. They also explore the same theme: how to behave in the event of conflict. But they do not immerse the viewer or the player in the same moment. If the television series “Zero Day”, currently being filmed, evokes how the seven days preceding the invasion of Taiwan will pass, “2045” is a role-playing game that imagines the last ten days of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“2045”, which is not a video game but a traditional board game, actually starts when the peripheral islands of Taiwan, including of course Kinmen, the closest to the Chinese coast, are already controlled by Beijing. And therefore focuses on the invasion of the main island.
The important thing, explains the company’s founder, Zhang Shao-Hun, is then for the players, not to make mainland China or Taiwan win (and in fact the Chinese army cannot be controlled by one of the participants and has a “non-player character” position), but to satisfy the personal interest of the characters they embody.
The Mizo Games team during a test game of the game “2045”.Mizo Games
At the beginning of the game, players randomly choose their role from six different categories of protagonists. They can then find themselves in the shoes of a supporter of Taiwanese independence or a character in favor of reunification. They can also embody a soldier, a merchant or entrepreneur, a representative of organized crime or even a local authority official. Each must then defend their own interests which, of course, differ completely depending on whether they are a soldier, a criminal or a local elected official, he explains.
It is therefore not a cooperative game, in which the players all work together to achieve a common goal that would be the victory of one side, but a “zero-sum game”, where there is only one winner in the end, explains Zhang Shao-Hun, assuring that the game is based on a lot of research work. The most recent Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan have thus inspired certain actions or locations in the game, including for example the supposed landing zones of the Beijing army.
An educational role
Asked by local media whether it was relevant to approach the issue of a possible conflict between Beijing and Taiwan in a playful manner, Zhang Shao-Hun denied any bad spirit. “We are a game company and we simply want to create entertaining games,” he explained, recalling that there are many role-playing games on the market based on real or imaginary wars.
But “2045” can also have an educational role. And perhaps show players the range of possibilities that can arise in the event of conflict. “Taiwan can be divided, but people can also show solidarity. All sorts of things can happen,” says Zhang Shao-Hun, who explains that early tests with players show that the concept works with a broad audience.
In any case, and while it has not yet been released, “2045” has already found an audience, who are ready to finance it. At the beginning of August, Mizo Games set up a crowdfunding campaign to help launch its game. The company originally wanted to raise 100,000 Taiwan dollars. It has already raised more than 2 million (around 62,000 euros). It is true that Mizo Games is not new to this and has several role-playing games linked to the history of Taiwan to its credit.
