The Tarantino-inspired pulp RPG Shakedown City is inspired by A Quiet Year and Noirlandia and is a GM-less and no-prep RPG. In the game, players tell the story of a city torn apart by gang war.
And the pizza? The collaborative game is part of the impressive wave of tabletop innovations from Italy and is being published by Milan-based Pizza Games. You can back it on Kickstarter.
Shakedown City is designed to be played in a one-shot of 3 or 4 hours and with simple rules. It suits 2 to 5 players and doesn’t need prep but needs playing cards and some paper. Pizza Games say that Shakedown City can be shaken-up and adapted for online play despite those physical requirements.
Additionally, while the game doesn’t need a GM, it does require at least one person, the Facilitator, to have at least read the rules!
Being a game with dark and violent themes, the use of security tools that set the game tone based on players’ sensitivity is strongly encouraged: the city and its stories can be bloody and brutal, but also more oriented to noir comics and fiction.
Shakedown City is a totally independent game compatible with any other title of a similar genre. The metropolis and the situations that will arise in the game can serve as a setting and starting point for your pulp-noir stories with other RPGs.
A pledge of just €8 is enough to support the project and secure a PDF copy of the game. Doing that, rather than waiting until retail, will also get your name in the credits.
At €15, which is about £13, you also get a softcover. Pizza Games seem to be doing something interesting with the shipping and note that Italian Amazon Prime customers will get free shipping. That might be an option in other countries, and you should check.
There’s a tier where you can get two copies, handy for large groups, and then at €55, there’s the hardback option.
Pizza Games estimate that delivery will happen around October 2022.
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