Agency Report –
Berlin – The inventor of a Mafia-themed German board game has apologized after an Italian version of the game sparked fierce criticism.
The game “La Famiglia – The Great Mafia War” is based on the second major Mafia war in the 1980s, in which warring families fought a bloody battle for supremacy in the south of Italy.
The game was awarded the prestigious Golden Ace prize at the Cannes International Games Festival in 2024. But its release in Italy was met with a strong backlash.
“This product not only insults the dignity of Sicilians, but also devalues the daily commitment of millions of citizens who fight for legality and justice in our region,” said Alessandro De Leo, a regional politician from the conservative Forza Italia party, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
“Even more serious in every respect is the trivialization of violent elements, such as the use of car bombs, which have been reduced to mere game tools,” he said.
De Leo reportedly contacted the regional president of the Italian island of Siciliy, Renato Schifani, and asked that the game’s distribution be prevented.
Maria Falcone, whose brother, the anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, was killed by a car bomb attack in 1992 also criticized the game, which does not feature Falcone specifically.
“I don’t understand how someone could come up with the idea of developing such a game that plays on the feelings of those who have lost their lives serving the state,” the Corriere della Sera reported her as saying.
“The Mafia has brought only death to Sicily and Italy,” she said, adding that “the thought of such a game insults the memory of all those people who contributed to liberating this country.”
The German board game designer who invented “La Famiglia,” Maximilian Maria Thiel, told dpa that he had not expected these reactions. “It’s a point I underestimated,” he said, emphasizing that there are thousands of other war games.
“I am very sorry if people feel offended by the game. That was and is never my intention,” Thiel said, adding that having lived in Italy for a long time he was very attached to the country.
He said a booklet had originally been planned to accompany the game and explain its background, and that this would now be included in all new editions.
