Dear Amazing Backers,

Thank you all for your support and for the wonderful push at the end to get us to the first stretch goal. The game is ready to go and the contract is being signed with the manufacturer as I type. We will update you as information comes in. Sorry to keep this one short but we spent the weekend and today packing for Gen Con. If you will be there please stop by our table on Community Row. We have a couple of prototypes of the game kicking around that you can take a look at! 

Happy gaming!

Thank you, everybody, for your support in bringing Eyeball to Eyeball to life. We’ve reached our funding goal with time to spare. Thank you!

Here’s a message from the game’s designers, Ray Kimball and Kimberly Redding:

“We are so excited that Eyeball to Eyeball is now funded! We want to take a moment and thank the 114 backers who have made this project possible. We are so grateful for your support of our little game! Best of all, it's not over yet. We want to share info about the two stretch goals that are now in play - if you want to see these happen, please nudge friends and colleagues to share their support!

$10,000 - Game Soundscape: For this stretch goal, world renowned musician Mark Cox has designed a soundscape for Eyeball to Eyeball that we'll give to all backers. The soundscape is a single track that can be looped during game play that can help reflect the mood of the time period the game is set in.

$13,000 - Experiential Simulation (ExSim) Glow Up: Meeting this stretch goal will allow us to take the amazing graphic design and style set already present in the Core Gamebook and apply it to the Experiential Simulation (ExSim) platform. This will allow for a consistent look and feel of the game in all media and enhance the player experience. Money covers the licensing of intellectual property into the online medium, along with labor costs for both Bold Pocket Press and Mustard Square.

Under 30 hours to go - let's do this!

Ray Kimball and Kimberly Redding”

One day closer, let's go!

Here's the next set of character capsules for Eyeball to Eyeball: the Intermediary roles in the game. Ray's commentary on the role is in italics below the description, as before.

U Thant: The first non-European Secretary General of the United Nations. You are a firm believer in the UN Charter and its mission of global peace. Can you keep the world from ending in flames?

The Intermediary Contingent is the Swiss Army Knife of this game. You can play entirely without them if you want to focus on US-Soviet-Cuba engagement, or if you want to emphasize more media engagement. But for folks whose curriculum or group composition lends itself to a more internationalist perspective, the Intermediaries offer LOTS of possibilities.
 

Adlai Stevenson: Longtime lawyer, Democratic politician and U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN. You joined President Kennedy’s Administration out of a sense of national duty. Can you beat the Reds?

In a longer-form game, I definitely would have given Stevenson a larger role. He's absolutely fascinating to me as a person and as a politician. He definitely is not as prominent in the game as he was in real life.
 

Valerian Zorin: A legendary Soviet diplomat who has represented the USSR at the UN since 1956. Your service gives you unique insights into the minds of capitalist leaders. Can you secure victory for the Rodina?

Zorin had the actual nickname of "Mr. Nyet" because of his copious use of the Soviet veto in the U.N. Security Council. That being said, he had a reputation of being easy to talk to and work with on matters of common ground. It would be fun to create a two-person debate game between Zorin and Stevenson where they square off on the issues of the early Cold War.
 

Mustafa İsmet İnönü: Prime Minister of Turkey. Over a lifetime of public service, you’ve nurtured a modern economy and a strong sense of hard-won independence. Can you get your way?

Kimberly came up with the idea of adding İnönü, and it adds a great wrinkle to the discussion of the Jupiter missiles in Turkey. During one playtest, the US just casually announced to the world that they were getting rid of them, and İnönü lost his mind. The Soviets successfully exploited that to get the Turks to leave NATO. Awkward.

Willy Brandt: Mayor of West Berlin since 1957. You have championed development of West Berlin as a showcase of capitalism and a stark contrast to the gray drabness of East Berlin. Can you get your way?

There's a point in the game where Berlin potentially becomes a significant issue, and Willy Brandt gets a chance to shine. Always fun to see what players do with that opportunity.
 

Josip Broz Tito: Founder of the post-war Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. Always the pragmatist, you have also nurtured good ties with the capitalist powers as well. Can you get your way?

Tito is a great role because he underscores just how complex the politics of the Cold War really was. It wasn't always "with us or against us." It really breaks some players' brains.
 

Julio Lobo: Sugar tycoon and recent Cuban exile. Your outsized ego is exemplified by your massive collection of Napoleonic artifacts, the largest in the world. Can you get your way?

Oh, man, Lobo. This guy is the closest thing to an actual Bond villain I've ever seen in real life. From his giant collection of Napoleonic-era artifacts to our complete inability to find an actual picture of him, the whole character just reeks of "sharks with frickin' laser beams."
 

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Russian author and former political prisoner. You hope that publication of works like yours will correct the worst excesses of Soviet power and lead it on a better path. Can you get your way?

I’m a Russian/Soviet historian by training, so you KNEW I was going to get extra Russians in here somehow, right? When I realized that "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" came out in 1962, I knew Solzhenitsyn was perfect for the Intermediaries.

Indira Gandhi: President of the Indian National Congress. You are keenly ambitious to follow in your father’s footsteps while maintaining India’s strict policy of non-alignment. Can you get your way?

Sigh. The lone female role in the game. We tried and tried to improve representation in this game without breaking historical plausibility, and this was the best we could do. 

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We're at 96% and counting! Let's go!

Hi all,

Before we get into the next set of character capsules, here's an article from the independent news website Rascal that dropped about Eyeball to Eyeball. It includes an interview with designers Ray Kimball and Kimberly Redding. Reading the full post requires a subscription, but Rascal is a great site to support in the gaming industry, so check it out:

https://www.rascal.news/eyeball-to-eyeball-classroom-larp-interview/

Onto the next set of character capsules. Next up: the Media roles in the game. Ray's commentary on the role is in italics below the description, as before.

Herbert Matthews: Internationally recognized New York Times journalist. You are known to ask probing questions, and have a well-rounded grasp of international affairs. Can you get the scoop?

Matthews' picture is one of two images that we actually licensed for the game; everything else is public domain. The full shot (which is included in the game book as a primary source) is him interviewing Fidel Castro in the mountains of Cuba in the late 1950s. It was just too perfect to pass up.
 

William Turner Catledge: NY Times Editor. You are strongly committed to freedom of speech and the responsibility of the press to expose truth at all costs. Can you get the scoop?

| I love roles like this that require players to exercise peer leadership. In this case, the coaching component as Catledge reviews the work of his two NYT reporters is always fun to watch.

Isidor Feinstein (I.F.) Stone: American investigative journalist. Your left-wing positions and consistent engagement with Communists have led to whispers that you are a Soviet agent. Can you get the scoop?

We had a lot of fun with the ideologies of different media figures. We certainly had a wide range of options to choose from, so having a leftist like Stone versus a die-hard conservative like Paul Harvey was too good to pass up.
 

Walter Cronkite: new anchor of CBS’s nightly news broadcast. As “the most trusted man in America,” you are a shining star of modern journalism and professional rival of other journalists. Can you get the scoop?

Man, thank God for presidential libraries. This pic of Cronkite taken by a JFK White House photographer was the only one we could find that wasn't under copyright. Ditto for many of the Soviet roles. 

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We're standing on the brink. Less than $500 now. Do we take the leap? 

Hi all,

We've entered the home stretch of the campaign, and we're super close to making our goal. We'd definitely love it if folks could mention the campaign to their various networks and help us get the word out in the final days. Here's a direct link to the campaign for handy copying:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/central-michigan-university-press/eyeball-to-eyeball

Also, Ray Kimball, one of the designers of Eyeball to Eyeball, has been providing short glosses on the various characters in the game that people can play on his social media these last few weeks. We'd thought it would be good to collate them all here for everyone. We'll drop these in groups over the next few days as we approach the end of the campaign.

First up today: the Cuban roles in the game. Ray's commentary on the role is in italics below the description.

Raul Castro: Brother of Cuba’s president and leader of their armed forces. Most Cubans call you le pequeño (the little one), implying that you’ll always stand in Fidel’s shadow. Can you keep the Revolution alive?

The Cuban roles are really fun, in that they give the most flexibility in small groups (20-ish). Raul is a great example; the player's role sheet gives them the flexibility to be super-loyal to Fidel, or play up being the sidelined younger brother. Historically, the real Raul did both at different times.

Che Guevara: Even as a foreigner, you rallied tremendous patriotism and loyalty among the guerrilla fighters and Cuban civilians. Now, you are Fidel’s right-hand man. Can you keep the Revolution alive?

Ah, Che Guevara. I get asked all the time why we don't use "that picture" of him (the face that launched a thousand t-shirts.) The practical answer is that it's unclear whether that image is in the public domain, so we just steered clear of it. It's also fair to say that the image evokes strong reactions from people that aren't really consistent with the aims of the game. Thus, we use this shot instead, which is actually from 1965 and a meeting he had in China.
 

Anibal Escalante: One of the founders of Cuba’s Socialist Party. You were overlooked by Castro’s revolutionary movement, which led you to cultivate close ties with Kremlin insiders. Can you keep the Revolution alive?

Anibal was a challenging role to write because he only comes into play in games of 25 or more. So we had to think about how he would have meaningful engagement at that size. Hence, the teaser about him being a Kremlin insider with the idea that he might have specific insights on what the Soviets are doing.

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One week to go, everyone. We're almost there. Let's go!