More Like This Please: One Child's Heart
Currently on Kickstarter is a game called One Child's Heart, designed by Camdon Wright.
There are pivotal moments in every child’s life that shape who they become. One Child's Heart is a tabletop roleplaying game that invites players to take the role of child welfare professionals participating in a new mental health care memory exploration experiment. The Central Limbic Engagement Recovery System (CLERS – pronounced, “clears”) brings characters into the memories of these key moments to give support and guidance to a child who needs both.
What I love about this game is that it focuses on human connection and empathy while not being about "tragedy tourism." In addition, as hard as at may be to accept, players cannot change what has already happened. There is no ability to be the savior. But, just like in real life, what can be done is helping the child learn tools to cope with their life to come.
The basics of game play are described in the Kickstarter. Players take on one of five playable professions: the child psychologist, the clergy, law enforcement, the social worker, and the therapist. They help the child through the memory and attempt to earn enough tokens for an optimal outcome. Dice are used to determine whether or not a connection is made, which makes sense because each child is unique and the reality is that we cannot know what is going to connect with an individual.
In addition to the game idea itself, the reason why this is a "More Like This Please" post is because it has a kickass team working on it. First, let me be clear and say a number of people I know and admire are part of this, including Sharang Biswas whom I know from outside of gaming. The whole group is immensely talented and bring a diverse range of experiences to the table, incredibly important in a game such as this.
If you are interested in learning more, I recommend listening to the actual play sessions listed on the Kickstarter page:
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