1870s London. A chance meeting between almost wholly different souls, an editorialist and a gentleman. Will the two inevitably fall in line with the status quo, or venture down the hazard-filled road, defying society’s norms in order to follow their hearts? Only time will tell, in the soft, slow-burn LGBTQ+ historical romance visual novel, Of Sense and Soul.
If it was 2023 and not 1875, their odds might be ever so slightly better. Even so, I’d say they’re on par with the success rate of the Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game Kickstarter, which still has ample amounts of time left. That said, it is the first game from Forsythia Productions and as anyone familiar with crowdfunding will tell ya, at the best of times, it’s a gamble; not entirely unlike the relationship depicted in the game itself, sadly.
A Story from Two Perspectives: Play as either of two protagonists and navigate their lives through the smog-covered streets of Victorian London.
With 42,638 HKD (5,450 USD) of 156,100 HKD (19,956 USD) pledged at the time of writing, there’s still quite a ways to go before this one’ll cross the glorious finish line, although the campaign does also have some 29 days and change left to accomplish its monetary goal. Alongside the usual rewards for a Kickstarter project of this kind, like a digital copy of the game, those willing to fork over a bit more change will be able to get their hands on a digital version of the soundtrack, artbook, or – with deep enough pockets – both! Ah, and those with super deep pockets… well, they might want to consider basking in the glory of the genuinely delicious physical rewards.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the stretch goals. Except, none have been revealed as of yet and won’t be until funding reaches that magical, elusive 100%. Well, how about some community challenges then? People love those, right? A mini-game of sorts… on social media. Like, say, “make posts about OSAS on your social media to get a short OSAS story added to all tiers”, or “Create fanfiction or fanart and post it to social media to vote on a bonus artwork to be added to all tiers”. Interesting idea and a good way to help generate buzz on social media about your campaign, quite frankly.
Through better understanding themselves and growing from the moments they share, they find that things can change for the better — and that the marks we leave on the lives of those around us are so much greater than we realise.
This brings us to the classic: why Kickstarter? Well, unlike so many other projects popping up on the platform nowadays, Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game has actually already “largely been paid for out-of-pocket”, with “additional contributions” from Patreon. So their reason for crowdfunding isn’t to make the game – it’s to make the game better, things like fully voiced scenes and artwork/CGs making up most of the 156,100 HKD they’re asking for on Kickstarter. An undeniably solid reason for embarking on the grand adventure that is, with a little luck and enough fans, crowdfunding.
As for when they’re planning on releasing the finished product, well, not for a while – although that is par for the course with crowdfunded games. If all goes according to plan, however, Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game (PC, Mac, Linux) should be on digital store shelves come Q1 2025. The Kickstarter link, as well as for demo availability, can be found below. Best of luck to not only Forsythia Productions but most certainly also Hugo and Seamus, the game’s protagonists.
Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game Kickstarter, demo (Steam, itch.io), website.
