Picaresque Roman Launches Kickstarter Campaign
Thanks to tabletop localization company LionWing, America will be getting their first edition of the popular Japanese game Picaresque Roman (though in Japan, it’s their fifth edition). The Kickstarter campaign for the game launched today.
Picaresque Roman takes place in a futuristic and very corrupt metropolis simply called The City. Four or five players assume identities like Yakuza, Info Broker, Swindler, Heartbreaker, and Gambler, then get to work gaining influence and power. Each of you will obtain secret information, and must decide whether to partner up with other crooks to become twice as powerful, or keep it for yourself. Your goal is to topple the “VIP,” or the central character of the story who is controlled by the GM.
Thanks to Among Us, you are no doubt familiar by now with the gaming concept of one player being a secret traitor who’s sabotaging the others. This one throws in a little twist…the traitor is the player secretly working for the VIP (aka the GM). If no one susses out the VIP’s cohort, that person will win the game.
A digital PDF copy of Picaresque Roman, with everything you need to play plus all unlocked stretch goals, takes a $25 pledge. A hardcover print copy of the game can be had for $40 — it’s worth noting that unlike most tabletop crowdfunds, this book will eventually be sold in stores. If you’re looking for a physical item you can’t get anywhere else, the Rogue Edition takes a $75 pledge and includes a physical scenario booklet.
The campaign for Picaresque Roman will last just sixteen days, but that doesn’t mean it’ll have trouble meeting its goal — it already did, five hours after launching. You’ve got until September 9 to get your pledge in.