Ammonite 7: Gaming
Could this book be gamed? If so, how would you do it and what would be the focus of the game? RPG, board game, table-top? If none of these, why not?
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It could work as a board game similar to 'Small World'. Different factions with different personalities and powers that want to take over each other's areas. Throw in the virus and you might have something there.
Most interesting, I think would be to roleplay the women's angle in a hobby mostly enjoyed by men, without turning it into a caricature. Because let's face it, almost anything in RPing is at risk of becoming a caricature in the hand of a roleplayer, to ham up the stereotypical aspects of something, like giving dwarves Scottish accents. I'm certainly guilty of this myself (though not of playing dwarves with Scottish accents - I reserve that for engineers and fishermen). My Germans are stern and forthright (never soft and artistic), etc. I think playing in a setting like this would be an interesting challenge. A challenge because you need to keep reminding yourself not to fall back on stereotypes, but you also need to think like someone you wouldn't normally have to think like.
Of course it could, but for me the world- and society-building meant that I wouldn't really be interested. Perhaps someone can tell me what the focus of the story is.
It could be turned into a game, but why? What's the interesting part of the setting to explore?
If you want the idea of "only women allowed", the RPG The Watch (by Ash Kreider) is a good one. That's a fantasy, where patriarchy has turned into a literal demonic infestation that possesses all men, turning them into monsters. It's very much about dealing with partriarchy, toxic masculinity, gender roles, and all that. And a lot more interesting than this book.
I ran a campaign in my home setting where two of the characters were inspired by Fritz Leiber's The Snow Women. In the game culture, the Skalding men are basically bestial by nature, but civilized by the women's magic. Trouble is, they were far from home with no women of their culture to keep them in check, so with each use of their men's magic, they increasingly risked losing control of their civilized selves and would become beasts.
However, that was really more a story about men than Women, though it did touch on how men and women interrelate.
If The Watch is about patriarchy and toxic masculinity, it's probably the opposite of what Griffith was going for. How about a game of toxic femininity?
I think The Watch and Ammonite are different stages of the same thing. The Watch is about showing patriarchy as being an oppressive thing, forcing gender roles onto people. It also shows how women are actually more varied than their assigned gender role allows them to be. Ammonite has the same idea, but is set long after patriarchy has been swept aside.
As for toxic feminity: it's the case where women are compelled to be home-makers and care-givers, to the detriment of their own needs and feelings. The toxicity comes from forcing yourself it fit into a mandated role that doesn't allow you to be a rounded individual.
I will be featuring in in my next campaign. It won't be a Virus, but by design.
Sounds interesting, I'd like to hear more in due course
Exactly. For me the book didn't seem to have considered this at all.