Update #23: "What's the use of stories that aren't even true?"

Note: This is a copy of Update #22 from my Kickstarter campaign. 
 

Stretch Goals Update

As you've probably noticed, we lost backers after my announcement yesterday. For those of you still along for the ride, I had one specific announcement about the stretch goals involved. All of the role cards will remain unlocked: the Jester, Mother, Imperial Court, Townsfolk, and the bonus Troll (in the Kickstarter-themed version) are all explained in the rules posted yesterday. Of course, there is no artwork associated with them but you can use those when playing. In addition, the Pixel Lincoln themed version and the Kickstarter themed version are both "included" as well; just change the theme while you're playing while using the same mechanics and rules. The number of cards and components has already been updated in the Pledge Levels section on the home page to show specifically what you get in each package.

The more tangible stretch goals, the "TROO-bits" colored wooden pieces, and the PennyGems add-ons, we'll go ahead and unlock. The TROO-bits will just be an option you can select when the backer surveys are sent out. The PennyGems are an add-on ($20 per sheet in USA, $25 per sheet everywhere else), and the T-shirts are also an add-on. The one remaining stretch goal, Double The Fun, is still set at 500 backers at the $25 level or higher because that's really the point at which we can move to bulk ordering.

"What's the use of stories that aren't even true?" - Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie

I did see this question on BoardGameGeek that I thought was worth addressing: With all of this "pretending" to play a game, why bother using real cards and dice and bits at all? Why not just sit at an empty table and pretend to play a game?

That's a great question, actually. The answer is that physical objects help us make believe. When my kids are playing with a stick, it's no longer just a stick: it's a sword, or an oar, or a magic staff, or whatever. Why can't they just pretend to have a staff without actually holding a stick? Well, they could, but the physical stick facilitates the imaginative play. You could play Emperor's New Clothes with no physical objects whatsoever, but it means that you're relying entirely on memory for every part of the game, rather than just select parts of the game. The physical cards help you keep track of how many cards you've played, how many dice you're rolling, how many of each resource cube you have. Certainly, there is still a great deal of memory and improvisation involved, but with actual physical pieces there is a little bit less.

The other piece of make believe is the way that abstractions allow for broader interpretation. A stick can be just about anything stick-shaped. But once you start getting a more defined object, like a baseball bat or a plastic sword, it's harder to imagine that as something else. And once you get extremely specific—a replica of Harry Potter's wand, for instance—then it is no longer a generic stick that can be just about anything, and becomes very much one specific thing. That's great if you're playing as Harry Potter, but not as great if you want to pretend you have a crowbar or a dagger.

One of the things I wanted to explore was the suspension of disbelief. Kids are generally much better at this. They're ready to believe things, to see things that we (as adults) can no longer see. When I sat down to play Emperor's New Clothes with my kids, they're ready to go and have no trouble with it at all; it's usually the adults that need the explanation of how to make believe. This is what I've been told by other folks who have tried it out with adults and kids.

When you play a game, you're already suspending disbelief to some extent. I wanted to see how far I could push that and still play a game. For me, getting to a set of blank white components still works as a game, but removing the components altogether is a step too far. (Plus, hey, it's fun to roll real dice, even when they're entirely blank.) Apparently, from the number of pledges that we lost yesterday, the set of blank components is already a step too far for some.