Barbabianca is being printed, and this means the digital edition is ready! Shortly after this update we'll start the distribution of PDF files, including the Greetings from Anna minigame designed by Oscar. A lot of fine-tuning went into the production, and we hope you're as happy with the result as we are.
The pins are being delivered to us! Here's the final picture with their little card. We can't wait to see them in person.
And then there's the postcards. Here's a video of Chiara selecting sets, so you can see what a collection of small relics this is- there's a lot of wonderful stories in there. Forgive us for keeping one as a memento-- it's a picture of Bergamo, NessunDove's own city, and it's directed to Mr. Astolfi the accountant, teased by his sister for spending too much time away from home. Who know what stories each of you will get?
Expect another update when we get the print copies. Then we'll have fun folding lots of boxes!
BackerKit's trusty mailmen should have delivered the surveys that will give us the data to fulfill your pledges straight to your inboxes. 70% of you has already completed it, and we hope everyone will find the time to do the same soon. As a reminder: the game will first be available for Local Pickup at Bologna Play 2026, May 22-24. If you want to come say hi during the con, remember to select local pickup in the survey!
Meanwhile, work on Barbabianca is right on track. We have your vintage postcards and the pin manufacturer has sent us a sneak peek at your village souvenir, ready to ship home. Isn't it gorgeous?
As for the game itself, layout and proofreading are done. Maria is working on the additional art for characters unlocked during the campaign as well as some extra spot pieces, and after that we'll be ready to go into print.
We're aiming to send off the files by the second week of April. Keep an ear out for the village bell: we'll call you to the square to keep you updated on how things are going.
Here we are! It took a few days to catch our breath, as always happens after a town festival. Thank you again, all of you. This time we'll be brief, and leave the parting words to Cristian.
But there are two questions we want to answer.
When will Barbabianca get to you? In May. The Italian edition will launch for Bologna PLAY on May 22. We'll get shipping sorted right before or right after the con, so we'll hopefully be done sending out copies by June at the latest. The preorder store is open for those who missed the campaign and would like to receive it at the same time as backers.
When's the next festival? Here is a proper rumour, a preview: on May 7 we'll be joining Pocketopia to launch a new game by Matthijs Holter, the Norwegian author of Archipelago and Society of Dreamers. We've always loved his games and recently found out we share the same passion for South American magical realism, à la Hundred Years of Solitude. Come unearth TheRoots of Soledad, starting with the extraordinary cover art by Columbian street artist Soma Difusa.
Fellow villagers, there’s only one week left before the end of this small, grand adventure together. The truth is we have no more big goals to announce: the village is complete, and with Greetings from Anna it has also gone beyond our initial designs.
This doesn’t mean that getting the best possible outcome from this campaign won’t make a difference. Let us get sentimental for a bit and tell you a little about our story.
NessunDove was born to publish our personal projects, and particularly our chamber larp anthology Crescendo Giocoso. That’s where we discovered we like working alongside other people. So, as the pandemic limited a lot of other activities, we started working on Italian game adaptations— and especially with indie authors, for whom we’ve often been the first outsider voice to discuss a game. So it felt natural to become the publisher for the designers we had an affinity with, even in their international editions, like with The Magus and Our Queen Crumbles.
But Barbabianca is a different sort of challenge. Just like you’re doing with your support, we decided to put our faith in Cristian, a debuting designer, and Barbabianca, a project with polished design that still needed work to come together in term of texts and art. All February long you’ve been proving that investing this kind of time and energy is worth it. We could never thank you enough for that.
So, if you happen to strike up conversation with a friend that’s on the fence, you can tell them a new pledge won’t unlock new playbooks or fancy cover finishes— but it will make it easier for us to work on more projects like this one. We’re lucky to be surrounded by many creative people, in Italy and all around the globe, who just need a little push to make their talent shine.
A little push for Barbabianca is a call to arms for us at NessunDove, saying something along the lines of: “we want more radical, surprising games like this one!”. The only thing we can promise is that the call won’t fall on deaf ears.
So let’s roll up our sleeves, ring the village bells in celebration, and remind all roleplaying wanderers out there that Barbabianca is waiting to tell a terrible, wonderful story together.
Thanks to the support of an ever-growing village, each of you will get a physical or digital copy of the one-page game Greetings from Anna, an extra prelude to add to Barbabianca’s worldbuilding or an express game to play by itself.
But who is Anna, really? If old Barbabianca represents the superstition and fear of the past, Anna is youth, pushing boundaries ever further and always seeking something new. Neither of them is just a symbol, though: they’re people made of flesh and bones, our neighbors, our family, made real by the details you’ll invent about them.
We’re very happy to have reached this achievement, and to celebrate we want to share a campaign by another friend: Elliot Davis. One of his games will soon get an Italian edition curated by NessunDove, but just like us he’s also active as a publisher and for this Zinetopia he’s bringing the world two small, weird gems of game design.
Rise, Wizards!is a dice-stacking worldbuilding game of wizard hubris. People will fall in love with its tactile gameplay and the unique maps you make through play. If folks like chaotic wizardry and worldbuilding, this is the game for them.
All's Fair is an 18+ duet game about wanting to f*ck each other so bad you save the world about it. What makes this game special is its engagement with sexuality directly and how oppressive regimes want to take away those most special and joyous moments from our lives. I also think its unique twist on the card game War as a mechanic will inspire further unique designs.
