We at GeekDad have contributed to, and written about, lots of different Kickstarter campaigns, and probably for games more than anything else. And now our very own Senior Editor Jonathan Liu has launched a Kickstarter game campaign of his own, and it’s not a stretch to say it doesn’t look like any game I, and I’m willing to bet you, have ever seen before.
Called Emperor’s New Clothes, the game lets you play the various participants in the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale of the same name. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to play it, but the naked brilliance of the design is undeniably thought-provoking. To enhance the game’s attractiveness, Liu has enlisted the help of a number of very talented game artists, including GeekDad favorite John Kovalic, and the result is art that is truly out of sight.
Besides sounding like a lot of fun to play, the game offers an innovative design feature I’ve never encountered before: Regulated Operator Optical Screening, or the curiously-pronounced ROOS for short. The ROOS system, developed by Wysiayg Press, adds a unique feature to the game materials which enhances their appearance to those people who are most likely to enjoy the game while making them appear entirely blank to non-gamers and gamers for whom the game may not be appropriate. Of course, all of us on GeekDad have no trouble seeing the materials as they really are, and I trust that the majority of our readers will be the same. See the video about ROOS at the end of this article.
The Emperor’s New Clothes Kickstarter campaign is off to a really good start, having raised nearly twice its funding goal of $5,000 — and hit four of its stretch goals — with 18 days left to go. It’s been getting some good attention in the press, and it’s received validation in the form of a page on BoardGameGeek.com, though it seems some of the articles were written by those blanked by the ROOS. If they want to do their impression of the doubting child of the story, that’s their business; as for me, I’ve contributed to the campaign myself and I’m content to remain among the privileged ones who can see the stark genius behind the game. I don’t know you, gentle reader, but I suspect you are, too.
Photo: Jonathan Liu
