When Button Man first came to be it was envisioned as a simple, text-based adventure about a New York-type mafia, in general sensibility.
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addedWhen Button Man first came to be it was envisioned as a simple, text-based adventure about a New York-type mafia, in general sensibility. Our childhoods, steeped in the media landscape of mafia films and series, drove us to create a story which evoked the criminal underbelly they outlined. As the game evolved from its text form to the point & click genre, and our story needed fleshing out, we began to explore other avenues of inspiration. Being new in Halifax, NS, we at first didn't even consider the rich history that surrounded us. As we began to scratch the surface, initially in search of visual inspiration, what we found was a fascinating history and cast of characters, interwoven with those of their more famous counterparts.
addedFrom time to time, the names of Nova Scotia or Halifax do come up in the media, but for many it still remains unknown, that sleepy city in that rural province, if even that familiarity stands. This is especially true when it comes to the area’s historical ties with prohibition, rum running, and the American mafia, much to the benefit of the same. Through our research as new immigrants to Halifax, we found history too enticing not to share within our game. Halifax, far from irrelevant, was instead at the center of bootlegging operations ferrying spirits to the US. That significant but purposefully quiet fact allows us to explore a facet of prohibition media which is rarely explored; that of the distributors rather than the consumers. Nova Scotia, while dealing with its own prohibition around the same time as its southern neighbor, allowed the production and sale of alcohol overseas, a legal business origin of which many groups took advantage during the 1920's. The law was occasionally tough on crime, with notable and notorious exceptions when police protected the rackets of particularly profitable producers. Those dedicated to upholding the law and to temperance worked tirelessly, but could never truly stomp out the apparent need, demand, and the thrill of rum-running.
addedThere are many stories to be told about the period, and while Haligonians (what we call ourselves in Halifax) don't always acknowledge that part of our past, it would be a shame to allow those stories to be forgotten. Button Man looks beyond prohibition alone to form its story, as we won’t pretend that rum-running alone shaped Nova Scotia into what it is today. Our research took us into the past of our game's timeline and also into its future. We learned more of our new home’s history, the good and the ugly. While we are fascinated and at times inspired by the history of Halifax, it is not our goal to whitewash it. We believe that by exploring the darker, or more honest side of our history we can learn to be better, kinder, and more understanding towards one another. Can a game do all that? Perhaps not, but even in creating entertainment we can bear some of the burden of telling even our fictional stories responsibly.
changedButton Man aims to explore the time after the explosion, in the years following the crisis. The impact of this monumental event still lingers and affects the many characters that live in Kingsport, making the Explosion itself an almost spectral character of its own.
changedThe Bad Despite the communal sense for which Halifax and Nova Scotia are famous, not all have been or are treated equally. Canada as a whole has an ugly, ongoing history with minority groups and the First Nations tribes who have lived here long before the arrival of colonizers from France and England. Many stories remain of mistreatment, bigotry, and violence, and Button Man will explore those subjects as well. In the background of many stories there are those whose stories you will not hear, and we aim to give a voice to those which are often forgotten by history. For example, during that same explosion which saw people come together to help one another, left out the support were the populations of Mi'kmaq (indigenous people of the Atlantic Provinces) and Africville (a mostly black neighborhood of Halifax). Both suffered from the explosion but received little to no aid. The Mi'kmaq settlement of Turtle Grove was obliterated by the explosion and never rebuilt, while Africville was left to fend for itself in reconstruction, with municipal services halting at the border before the Africville settlement. Decades later, it was demolished by the city, despite the many people who still called it home.
changedBoth communities could have been helped, but both were abandoned due to the racial tensions of the time and our unfortunate tendency to do wrong by people who may not be like us. While Button Man is not directly about these issues, it will explore them in historical fact, and their presence and impact will be felt. Recreating Halifax I will leave you with a little sneak peak of our process of recreating 1920's Halifax into our fictional city of Kingsport. It’s a process which demands research, attention to detail, and a good bit of imagination :)
Button Man changes
addedWhen Button Man first came to be it was envisioned as a simple, text-based adventure about a New York-type mafia, in general sensibility. Our childhoods, steeped in the media landscape of mafia films and series, drove us to create a story which evoked the criminal underbelly they outlined. As the game evolved from its text form to the point & click genre, and our story needed fleshing out, we began to explore other avenues of inspiration. Being new in Halifax, NS, we at first didn't even consider the rich history that surrounded us. As we began to scratch the surface, initially in search of visual inspiration, what we found was a fascinating history and cast of characters, interwoven with those of their more famous counterparts.
addedFrom time to time, the names of Nova Scotia or Halifax do come up in the media, but for many it still remains unknown, that sleepy city in that rural province, if even that familiarity stands. This is especially true when it comes to the area’s historical ties with prohibition, rum running, and the American mafia, much to the benefit of the same. Through our research as new immigrants to Halifax, we found history too enticing not to share within our game. Halifax, far from irrelevant, was instead at the center of bootlegging operations ferrying spirits to the US. That significant but purposefully quiet fact allows us to explore a facet of prohibition media which is rarely explored; that of the distributors rather than the consumers. Nova Scotia, while dealing with its own prohibition around the same time as its southern neighbor, allowed the production and sale of alcohol overseas, a legal business origin of which many groups took advantage during the 1920's. The law was occasionally tough on crime, with notable and notorious exceptions when police protected the rackets of particularly profitable producers. Those dedicated to upholding the law and to temperance worked tirelessly, but could never truly stomp out the apparent need, demand, and the thrill of rum-running.
addedThere are many stories to be told about the period, and while Haligonians (what we call ourselves in Halifax) don't always acknowledge that part of our past, it would be a shame to allow those stories to be forgotten. Button Man looks beyond prohibition alone to form its story, as we won’t pretend that rum-running alone shaped Nova Scotia into what it is today. Our research took us into the past of our game's timeline and also into its future. We learned more of our new home’s history, the good and the ugly. While we are fascinated and at times inspired by the history of Halifax, it is not our goal to whitewash it. We believe that by exploring the darker, or more honest side of our history we can learn to be better, kinder, and more understanding towards one another. Can a game do all that? Perhaps not, but even in creating entertainment we can bear some of the burden of telling even our fictional stories responsibly.
changedButton Man aims to explore the time after the explosion, in the years following the crisis. The impact of this monumental event still lingers and affects the many characters that live in Kingsport, making the Explosion itself an almost spectral character of its own.
changedThe Bad Despite the communal sense for which Halifax and Nova Scotia are famous, not all have been or are treated equally. Canada as a whole has an ugly, ongoing history with minority groups and the First Nations tribes who have lived here long before the arrival of colonizers from France and England. Many stories remain of mistreatment, bigotry, and violence, and Button Man will explore those subjects as well. In the background of many stories there are those whose stories you will not hear, and we aim to give a voice to those which are often forgotten by history. For example, during that same explosion which saw people come together to help one another, left out the support were the populations of Mi'kmaq (indigenous people of the Atlantic Provinces) and Africville (a mostly black neighborhood of Halifax). Both suffered from the explosion but received little to no aid. The Mi'kmaq settlement of Turtle Grove was obliterated by the explosion and never rebuilt, while Africville was left to fend for itself in reconstruction, with municipal services halting at the border before the Africville settlement. Decades later, it was demolished by the city, despite the many people who still called it home.
When Button Man first came to be it was envisioned as a simple, text-based adventure about a New York-type mafia, in general sensibility. Our childhoods, steeped in the media landscape of mafia films and series, drove us to create a story which evoked the criminal underbelly they outlined. As the game evolved from its text form to the point & click genre, and our story needed fleshing out, we began to explore other avenues of inspiration. Being new in Halifax, NS, we at first didn't even consider the rich history that surrounded us. As we began to scratch the surface, initially in search of visual inspiration, what we found was a fascinating history and cast of characters, interwoven with those of their more famous counterparts.
From time to time, the names of Nova Scotia or Halifax do come up in the media, but for many it still remains unknown, that sleepy city in that rural province, if even that familiarity stands. This is especially true when it comes to the area’s historical ties with prohibition, rum running, and the American mafia, much to the benefit of the same. Through our research as new immigrants to Halifax, we found history too enticing not to share within our game. Halifax, far from irrelevant, was instead at the center of bootlegging operations ferrying spirits to the US. That significant but purposefully quiet fact allows us to explore a facet of prohibition media which is rarely explored; that of the distributors rather than the consumers. Nova Scotia, while dealing with its own prohibition around the same time as its southern neighbor, allowed the production and sale of alcohol overseas, a legal business origin of which many groups took advantage during the 1920's. The law was occasionally tough on crime, with notable and notorious exceptions when police protected the rackets of particularly profitable producers. Those dedicated to upholding the law and to temperance worked tirelessly, but could never truly stomp out the apparent need, demand, and the thrill of rum-running.
There are many stories to be told about the period, and while Haligonians (what we call ourselves in Halifax) don't always acknowledge that part of our past, it would be a shame to allow those stories to be forgotten. Button Man looks beyond prohibition alone to form its story, as we won’t pretend that rum-running alone shaped Nova Scotia into what it is today. Our research took us into the past of our game's timeline and also into its future. We learned more of our new home’s history, the good and the ugly. While we are fascinated and at times inspired by the history of Halifax, it is not our goal to whitewash it. We believe that by exploring the darker, or more honest side of our history we can learn to be better, kinder, and more understanding towards one another. Can a game do all that? Perhaps not, but even in creating entertainment we can bear some of the burden of telling even our fictional stories responsibly.
The Good Nova Scotia is filled with some of the kindest and communal people you'll ever meet. Many stories to illustrate this city character comes from the acts of heroics and kindness shown during the Halifax Explosion of 1917. During a time of great catastrophe, many Haligonians saved their neighbors from certain death. Along with help from outside Nova Scotia, the people came together to rescue, house, clothe, and feed those affected. Together, they rebuilt their community in the aftermath. In the first, confused moments preceding the explosion, a few souls who knew of the coming danger sacrificed themselves to warn those who did not know what was coming, and others put themselves directly in harm's way to protect their community. Through the pain, turmoil, and fear, they all experienced it as one.
Button Man aims to explore the time after the explosion, in the years following the crisis. The impact of this monumental event still lingers and affects the many characters that live in Kingsport, making the Explosion itself an almost spectral character of its own.
The Bad Despite the communal sense for which Halifax and Nova Scotia are famous, not all have been or are treated equally. Canada as a whole has an ugly, ongoing history with minority groups and the First Nations tribes who have lived here long before the arrival of colonizers from France and England. Many stories remain of mistreatment, bigotry, and violence, and Button Man will explore those subjects as well. In the background of many stories there are those whose stories you will not hear, and we aim to give a voice to those which are often forgotten by history. For example, during that same explosion which saw people come together to help one another, left out the support were the populations of Mi'kmaq (indigenous people of the Atlantic Provinces) and Africville (a mostly black neighborhood of Halifax). Both suffered from the explosion but received little to no aid. The Mi'kmaq settlement of Turtle Grove was obliterated by the explosion and never rebuilt, while Africville was left to fend for itself in reconstruction, with municipal services halting at the border before the Africville settlement. Decades later, it was demolished by the city, despite the many people who still called it home.
Both communities could have been helped, but both were abandoned due to the racial tensions of the time and our unfortunate tendency to do wrong by people who may not be like us. While Button Man is not directly about these issues, it will explore them in historical fact, and their presence and impact will be felt. Recreating Halifax I will leave you with a little sneak peak of our process of recreating 1920's Halifax into our fictional city of Kingsport. It’s a process which demands research, attention to detail, and a good bit of imagination :)
