Whether they could or should have, Porcupine Publishing has released a Bear Grylls tabletop roleplaying game.
Bear Grylls Gone Wild utilises the Push system, which is lightweight and story-driven. Porcupine has been mindful enough to cite the Creative Commons 4.0 license and credit Cezar Capacle, the creator.
There’s no mention of whether they have the license or endorsement from Bear or Holly Willoughby for the game, which might get awkward.
Here’s the pitch from Porcupine.
Bear Grylls Gone Wild is a Push-powered game of celebrity reality surival TV. The format is complex, but none of that matters in Bear Grylls Gone Wild, because by the time the game starts, the TV show’s format has gone out of the window.
You play celebrities, out in the jungles of Costa Rica to film a survival reality show hosted by Bear Grylls. But something has gone terribly wrong: after eating a psychedelic caterpillar or something, Bear has snapped, imprisoned proper presenter Holly Willoughby, and is now stalking the contestants, i.e. you.
Trapped far from help, with only your fame, wits, and a few ill-chosen luxury items, you must outsmart Bear Grylls, rescue Holly, and survive the deadliest episode ever.
License rights for the use of the celebrities aside, it’s worth knowing that real-life Holly was the target of a kidnapping and murder plot.
I first clicked on the title because I thought it was unlikely that Porcupine Publishing would have permission to use Bear Grylls likeness, and certainly interesting if they could use the word “official”. I’m not a lawyer, but I think there’s no law in the UK (yet) for “image right”, but there is the risk of reputational damage claims. In the US, the laws are more robust, and many States have a “right of publicity” to protect famous people.
Porcupine, could, though, try to use “parody” as a defence.
I’ve not seen any Bear Grylls shows, and the closest I get to the celeb WAS the adventure centre at the NEC, which is where UK Games Expo is hosted, but that’s just suddenly shut down. So, the kidnapping of Holly Willoughby blind sided me.
It’s entirely possible that Porcupine Publishing are unaware of the real-life Holly’s very real danger and close encounter with a kidnapper. But, I’ve run this post by a few people and felt the game might not be in the best taste.
The double-hitter of commercial usage and taste might come back to bite the publisher on this one. On the other hand, I might be being far too sensitive!
Porcupine’s Bear Grylls Gone Wild costs $5, is five pages long and is available via DriveThruRPG.
