Wow thanks for this thorough response! I think the context of it being a game made for a "You are the monster" game jam is super important for everyone experiencing this game, along with your analysis on colonization. And I think the mentality of "Not all heroes wear capes, not all monsters are tall beasts that eat children" is true and it is a worthy challenge to use as a basis for a game.
I see that the comments sections on kongregate and newgrounds seem oblivious to this intent (with some noticeable eagerness to shift the blame to African people) - but this is truly territory that games have not yet had many real successes in exploring so I appreciate your attempt, and I am wondering about ways this approach could be tweaked to have players experience this "not all monsters are beasts" theme.
I agree that any approach that comes off as "moralizing" or "educational" will be ineffective, but I'd say that is more a matter of making the experience feel whole rather than contrived.. All games have values and lessons that the player learns intuitively through playing them, although sometimes those values are very simple, like "everyone is out to kill you, and you need speed and quick reactions to survive." To tackle a more nuanced topic like this one requires a different approach.
I suspect one method would be a game where you are involved in intercontinental trade, and you start out with more simple forms of cargo, but are placed in a position where there is a demand for human beings. In such a case, the player would get to feel that point where they have to deal with the fact that the skills they have honed for a simple business purpose, is becoming more intertwined with moral considerations.
Or, like Papers Please, you play a role that is way more administrative - like tracking incoming and outgoing products. What I love about that game is in the act of playing it you get to exercise moral agency, but it's always at some kind of cost. Morality in the construct of larger forces at play, of the watchful eye of a fascist and institution.
What is great about that, is it enables the player to maintain their personal morality, while taking the moral considerations seriously.
This makes me want to take some time and document games that successfully approach morality without a contrived, "moralizing" approach... I'm sure it's a fairly short list.
Thanks for the notes on how France views colonization - particularly the comment on how there have been movements to highlight the "positive aspect of colonization" - that hit me deeply, as even if it goes unspoken, I feel like that mentality is very much alive in America. Being able to effectively break through the defensiveness around racial shame, is the only way to heal it. This is something I hope video games can play a role with.. We'll see if that ever pans out!