A bit of a specific question, I know. Me and a group of people are working on creating a game based on creating ‘candy’ like a tycoon game. The gameplay itself is fine, it’s mainly just mixing things together like a crafting system.
What we’re wondering is how far we can go in referencing the actual drug (and characters), methemphetamine, in the game. Obviously, we won’t be calling it that nor referencing to narcotics, but instead the user is creating ‘rock candy’ or ‘Bloxy Cola’, something like that. The item in-game will not be usable whatsoever.
We also have pretty easy-to-spot references to actual characters in the show, but with slight renames; however anyone who would have seen the original show would easily be able to connect these characters with their counterparts.
Some questions on limitations we may have:
Can we have rock candy? Can it be blue, for example?
Can it be insinuated that the product being made is illegal and dangerous?
With all of these references, would we need to change the ‘product’ being made in it’s entirety?