Keep the Faith is a storytelling game about a religion in transition. Elements of role-playing and board gaming combine to make an experience that is designed to welcome to new role-players. It plays 2-5 players in 60-90 minutes.
Keep the Faith is a storytelling game about a religion in transition from game designer Greg Loring-Albright (designer of Ahoy from Leder Games and Bloc by Bloc with T.L. Simons from Outlandish Games). Elements of role-playing and board gaming combine to make an experience that is designed to welcome new role-players. It plays 2-5 players in 60-90 minutes.
In Keep the Faith, you’ll play aspect cards and narrate short stories to describe how the practices and trappings of your fictional Faith express different (and at times contradictory) beliefs. What does your religious music sound like if it’s demonstrating your commitment to welcoming the outsider, as opposed to your desire to wield power? What does your altar look like if it's an altar for keeping secrets as opposed to spreading the word? External pressures and tensions within the Faith will cause your beliefs to shift and might even drive the Faith to fracture and fall into irrelevance.
You can take a look at the current draft of the game rules (version 12.8) here. If you would like to try out an online prototype of the game, here's a version using Screentop.gg: https://screentop.gg/@gregisonthego/KTF12dot8.
For those who love board games but haven’t played a role-playing game (RPG), or for those new to this whole hobby gaming thing, this game was designed with you in mind! The game is mechanically accessible and welcoming, using board game-like play to guide your new experience with collaborative RPG storytelling.
And for those who are experienced role-players who love storytelling and world-building games like The Quiet Year (Avery Alder), Companions' Tale (Laura Simpson), For the Queen (Alex Roberts), Dialect (Thorny Games) or Microscope (Ben Robbins), this game will absolutely be a fit for you too. Play it on its own as a rules-light one shot role-playing game, or use it at the start of a new RPG campaign to work together to build the religions of your game setting. This is a game without a world waiting for you to create answers to the unknown for the denizens of your world.
Keep the Faith is an approachable storytelling game about an often-fraught topic, designed to create compelling narratives and spark discussions between players.
To learn more about the game's genesis and design, check out designer Greg Loring-Albright's recent January 2025 appearance on Liz Davidson's Beyond Solitaire podcast, where they discussed Keep the Faith:
You can also listen to Greg's June 2024 appearance on the Color Correction podcast with Andrew Yang.
“‘Keep the Faith’ changed the way that I look at the world. It’s a game about how faith communities wrestle with their ideals over time, and how that changes them. It made me think about my own experience of organizing and gathering a community, times when I’ve seen that experience transform or break communities I’ve been a part of. In my experience of playing ‘Keep the Faith’ I struggled against other players trying to move the faith community in different directions, negotiated how much I could compromise while staying true to my own goals and values – all the things that I’ve done in religious and community organizing spaces, but in the safety of friends around a dinner table. Playing ‘Keep the Faith’ is an incredibly fun and imaginative way to think about how ideas change and change us.” -Andrew Yang, Community Organizer & Podcast Host
“Religion is rarely well represented in TTRPGs and [Keep the Faith] takes a thoughtful and well-grounded approach that actively encourages both learning (showing players how re/formation works in an interactive way) and creativity (inventing their own religion based on various typical features). My liturgical studies professor used to say, “Nothing has ‘always been done this way.’” and this game translates that fact into a fun and engaging interactive experience. -Alex Roberts, CCC, RCC, creator For the Queen and Star Crossed
“[Keep the Faith] allows for conversation about religions without requiring technical knowledge of specific religions and . . . facilitates discussion both for those who have religious commitments and those who don’t – I could see myself using this early in a semester to introduce various concepts about religion (myth, morality, ritual, etc) or later in the term to talk about how groups evolve – or maybe even use it both times and allow students to compare.” -Jonathan Lawrence, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theology - Canisius University
Fifty-one (51) Aspect cards, representing practices, rituals, and norms of the Faith;
Draft Aspect Cards (Not Final)
Twelve (12) Era cards, which describe social forces acting on the Faith and give storytelling prompts to help move the narrative from one Era to another.
Draft Era Cards (Not Final)
Twelve (12) Goal cards, representing the possible developmental paths of the Faith;
Draft Value Cards (Not Final)
Six (6) Core Value cards, which help set your Sect’s core values;
Draft Core Value Cards (Not Final)
Six (6) Two-sided Value cards, which represent three sets of opposing ideals;
Draft Value Cards (Not Final)
Five (5) Player aid cards;
One (1) Orthodoxy Indicator card;
One (1) Wooden Tenet marker;
One (1) Wooden First Player marker;
Twenty (20) Wooden Power Cubes, used to alter aspects during gameplay.
You can back this campaign for the following rewards:
The Committed ($1)
Backing at this level gives you our thanks and access to the Pledge Manager after the campaign ends.
The Keepers ($20)
Backing at this level gives you an optimized Print & Play PDF of Keep the Faith. You will also receive any applicable digital stretch goals reached during the campaign.
The Faithful ($35)
Back at this reward tier to get a Core Edition of Keep the Faith, plus the Print & Play PDF. You will also receive any applicable digital and physical stretch goals reached during the campaign.
The Devout ($50)
In addition to a copy of the Core Edition, the Print & Play PDF, and all applicable digital and physical stretch goals, you’ll receive at this reward tier a PDF of the Keep the Faith Curriculum Guide, by designer and educator Liz Davidson of Leder Games and the Beyond Solitaire podcast. The Curriculum Guide will contain suggestions, lesson plans, optional rules, and other resources for using Keep the Faith in your high school or college classroom.
The Many ($60)
When one copy isn’t enough! Back at this reward tier and receive two (2) copies of the Core Edition, plus the Print & Play PDF and all applicable digital and physical stretch goals.
The Enlightened ($75)
For when you want it all! Back at this reward tier and receive everything offered in the previous tiers: two (2) copies of the Core Edition, the Print & Play PDF, the Keep the Faith Curriculum Guide, and all applicable digital and physical stretch goals.
The Sages ($195)
This is the perfect reward tier if you are looking to use Keep the Faith with a whole class! Back at this tier to receive six (6) copies of the Core Edition, as well as the Print & Play PDF,the Keep the Faith Curriculum Guide, and all applicable digital and physical stretch goals.
We have only a few stretch goals for this campaign. Here's the gist, with more details to come once we're pursuing them.
FUNDING GOAL --$12,000- Funding Goal: Let's go!!!
LOCKED -- $20,000- Guarding the Vestments: For this stretch goal, we will upgrade the game box to make it present in the ritual of the game. We have some interesting plans for this; we'll show you more when this stretch goal goes live.
LOCKED -- $25,000- Implements of Faith: For this stretch goal, we will upgrade the physical components of the game (e.g., the Tenet marker, the first player marker, and the wooden power cubes), making them that much more special to use in gameplay.
If we reach these goals, we'll see about dropping a couple more stretch goals we have planned. If you want to see them, you know what to do!
We will be using Backerkit to collect shipping costs closer to fulfillment, send out surveys, and manage fulfillment after the campaign has ended.
For US domestic fulfillment, we will be using a US-based fulfillment partner for warehousing and distribution. We anticipate shipping costs through our fulfillment partner to range between $10-$12 for shipments containing a single game, depending on a backer’s distance from the warehouse. Backing for additional copies of the game and/or add-ons will increase this cost some, but it should be reasonable.
We will be offering worldwide shipping as part of this campaign; however, please note: we will be fulfilling orders from the United States only, so we are not able to offer customs-friendly shipping. We do not have estimates on international shipping rates at the moment, but our previous crowdfunding campaigns have had rates within the range of our contemporaries. However, if the final shipping cost ends up too much for you, please message us, and we'll cancel your pledge.
Greg Loring-Albright, PhD (he/him) is a game designer who lives along the Susquehanna River. He designed Ahoy (Leder Games, 2022) and co-designed Bloc by Bloc: Uprising with T.L. Simons (Outlandish Games, 2022). He teaches in the Game Design and Interactive Media programs at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. He has been, throughout his life, a Presbyterian, a Mennonite, a Quaker, an Episcopalian, and a "none." Jabari Weathers cannot confirm or deny their suspected status as an exiled goblin regent seeking refuge beyond the veil. They presently reside in Baltimore, Maryland, making fantasy and sci-fi illustrations and spinning worlds and fictions for roleplaying games and other interactive projects out of words to keep up their glamor. Other things that they enjoy are strange films, stranger music, singing in public places, and the thoroughly uncanny. You can follow them on Twitter, Bluesky, and Instagram and contact them at [email protected].
Momatoes–known in real life as Bianca Canoza–is an ENNIE-nominated, Diana Jones emerging designer, tabletop game and visual designer from the Philippines. At some point she was supposed to be a mainframe programmer, yet found herself designing, illustrating, and developing TTRPGs and even community websites. Her visual style is colorful and evocative, revealing layers of storytelling. Learn more at momatoes.com. Andrew D. Devenney, is a lifelong gamer who was hooked from the start by the Moldvay Basic D&D set. Married with spawn that looks eerily just like him at their ages, he currently resides in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where he serves as the Assistant Director of the Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations at Central Michigan University, as well as a Series Editor for Central Michigan University Press's pedagogical game series "Scholarship and Lore: Games for Learning."
Because he doesn’t have enough to do, Andrew also, more frequently, publishes indie tabletop role-playing games through Superhero Necromancer Press and, less frequently, co-writes/produces historical documentaries through Stratigraphic Productions. He wears many hats. So. Many. Hats.
Keep the Faith is being published as part of the Scholarship and Lore: Games for Learning Series of Central Michigan University Press, an academic press committed to innovative, research-based, peer-reviewed, engaging pedagogical games. If you would like to know more about the goals behind the Scholarship and Lore Series, please check out the Press's Vision and Mission Statement or please reach out to:
Dr. Tracy S. Davis, Co-Director, Center for Learning through Games and Simulations at Central Michigan University – [email protected].
Dr. Jonathan Truitt, Co-Director, Center for Learning through Games and Simulations at Central Michigan University – [email protected].
Dr. Andrew D. Devenney, Assistant Director, Center for Learning through Games and Simulations at Central Michigan University – [email protected].
Once we have successfully funded, we will push forward on the following schedule to complete the project. The game design is finished, so we are mostly at the stage of finalizing production designs and getting files right. That said, we have built a little slack into this to account for the current and perennial problems with international manufacturing, freight, and shipping:
