A single-session RPG written by Stefano Burchi, and published by Asterico Edizioni has landed on Kickstarter with 157 backers, and pulling in so far £7,048 of their £6,664 goal. It’s a powerful game, set in a turbulent time and the publisher has the talent to pull it off too.

“We are Asterisco Edizioni an independent Italian publisher. Our publications focus on the fringe productions: author and authress from the social margins, LGBITQ+, Feminisms, and POC topics and issues. One of our main focus is to bring these marginalized points of view and life experiences in game development and game debate in Italy.”

From the Stonewall 1969 – A War Story KSer page

Here at Exiled News, you might say that’s right in our Wheelhouse, and it’s certainly in mine since.

So, what exactly is Stonewall 1969 – A War Story

As previously stated up above, it’s a single-session RPG. You play out the lives of some of the characters, with up to three or four people taking on these roles in the months leading up to the Stonewall Riots. During this time period you’ll discover who these characters are, who they love, what are their hopes, dreams, aspirations, and more. What kind of challenges and difficulties do they endure, what kind of oppressions and problems do they have to overcome?

What choices do they have to make in a society that doesn’t love them, or have a place for them?

This all builds up over the weeks and months to the point where the riots happen, and the game is designed to guide the group to work out and discover what and why their characters are led to revolt. What are the catalysts, and how did the riots themselves change the characters?

It’s deep stuff.

Important stuff.

The game seeks to drive home the point made about the Prides, that “The first time was a riot.” This point is important, and the game looks to offer a perspective on why it’s paramount to remember that.

The game will be available in English and Italian, so you won’t miss out if you’re not Italian.

You can also get a taste of the game here!

The ideas, concepts, and execution behind this one are very interesting and rather than making your own character, you get to draw from a pool of 14 characters – each one is represented by an image, a description, and some questions which seek to define the connections and relationships with the other characters – guiding the players to explore the characters’ themes.

We’re going to keep an eye on this one, and we hope it does really well. These moments in our history deserve to be remembered, taught, and serve as reminders of the past as well as a lessons for the future.

You can find out more about the Kickstarter here!