Growing Up in the Gilded Age: Storybrewer’s Roleplaying Announces ‘Castles in the Air’

In an era of tabletop gaming often dominated by dungeon crawls and high-stakes combat, a new project from Storybrewer’s Roleplaying invites players to trade their broadswords for journals and their battle maps for the sun-drenched fields of the American Gilded Age. Castles in the Air, an upcoming tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) designed by Melia Carraway, offers a poignant, mechanics-driven approach to the classic "coming-of-age" narrative.

By centering the experience on the transition from childhood innocence to the complexities of adulthood, the game promises to capture the emotional depth found in literary classics like Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables.

The Core Concept: From Childhood Dreams to Adult Realities

Castles in the Air is fundamentally a collaborative storytelling engine. Rather than focusing on skill checks or combat prowess, the game asks players to build a shared history. The narrative arc spans the Gilded Age in the United States—a period defined by rapid industrialization, burgeoning economic disparity, and seismic shifts in migration patterns between the 1870s and 1890s.

The game is structured around the evolution of the player characters. It begins in the "Childhood" phase, where the focus is on the simple, visceral experiences of youth: swimming in local lakes, stargazing, and roaming the farmlands of a rural landscape. During this phase, the game encourages players to document the specific wonders and anxieties that define their characters’ formative years.

As the narrative progresses, the mechanics shift to accommodate the inevitable complexities of maturation. Characters navigate the nuances of romantic crushes, the sting of childhood rivalries, and the weight of familial expectations. The game concludes in adulthood, exploring the bittersweet reality of friends drifting apart as their paths diverge—and the potential for these characters to cross paths once more as changed individuals.

The Chronology of Development and Design

The design philosophy behind Castles in the Air is rooted in the success of its predecessors. Storybrewer’s Roleplaying, led by co-founders Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon, has previously established a reputation for "genre-emulation" games. Their most notable work, Good Society, successfully distilled the social maneuvering and wit of Jane Austen’s novels into a tabletop format.

Castles in the Air represents a continuation of this design DNA. By applying similar principles to the American period drama, the team has created a framework that allows for the construction of deeply specific character archetypes.

Design Timeline:

• Conceptualization: Melia Carraway began the design process by examining the tropes of period literature, focusing on the "bosom friend" and "rival" dynamics that drive narrative tension in 19th-century fiction.
• Collaboration: Working alongside Hendro and Gordon, Carraway refined the game’s mechanics to ensure that the transition from childhood to adulthood felt earned, rather than arbitrary.
• Actual Play Testing: Throughout 2023 and early 2024, the developers released actual-play videos—most notably A Golden Dawn—to demonstrate how the game’s narrative mechanics function in practice.
• Kickstarter Launch: Following rigorous testing, the campaign launched in May 2024, with a funding goal aimed at securing high-quality physical production.

Character Archetypes and Narrative Agency

A core strength of Castles in the Air is its approach to character creation. Rather than selecting classes based on combat roles, players choose from a list of archetypes designed to evoke the spirit of period dramas.

These include:

• The Troublesome Scamp: A character prone to mischief, whose growth involves learning the consequences of their actions.
• The Studious Bookworm: A character whose intellect or imagination serves as both a shield and a bridge to the outside world.
• The Spoiled Princess: A character whose arc revolves around shedding external expectations and finding an authentic identity.

To flesh out these roles, players incorporate "Dreams," "Family Backgrounds," and "Bosom Enemies." This modular approach to character building allows for the recreation of iconic literary figures or the invention of entirely new ones. The "Bosom Enemy" mechanic, in particular, is designed to generate natural conflict, ensuring that the relationships between players remain dynamic throughout the entire multi-year arc of the campaign.

Supporting Data: Why the "Cozy" RPG Market is Expanding

The rise of Castles in the Air arrives at a pivotal time for the tabletop industry. Data from industry analysts suggests a growing appetite for "low-stakes" or "cozy" TTRPGs. While games like Dungeons & Dragons remain the industry standard, there has been a documented surge in interest regarding games that emphasize emotional connection over mechanical combat.

The success of Good Society proved that there is a significant demographic of players—both veteran roleplayers and newcomers—who are interested in exploring complex interpersonal dynamics. Castles in the Air capitalizes on this by offering a structured way to play through the "coming-of-age" genre, which historically lacks a dedicated tabletop space.

Furthermore, the game’s focus on the Gilded Age provides a unique backdrop that is both nostalgic and rife with socio-economic tension. By grounding the players in this specific historical period, the game provides a coherent aesthetic and thematic foundation that aids in immersion.

Official Responses and Publisher Vision

In discussions surrounding the game’s development, the team at Storybrewer’s Roleplaying has emphasized that the goal is not merely to mimic the stories we know, but to create a space where players can explore the universal experience of growing up.

"The game is about the things we leave behind and the things we carry with us," says Melia Carraway. "We wanted to create a space where the drama of a first kiss or the frustration of a disagreement with a sibling felt just as consequential as any dragon fight."

Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon have noted that their experience with the "Austen-style" mechanics of Good Society informed the way they handle the social hierarchies present in Castles in the Air. "We learned that players crave structure when it comes to social interaction," Gordon stated. "By giving them clear tools to express their characters’ internal lives, we allow them to focus on the story rather than worrying about the ‘right’ way to act."

The Implications of Crowdfunding

The Kickstarter campaign, which runs until June 9th, serves as both a funding mechanism and a community-building event. With a physical edition priced at AU$ 99 and a digital edition at AU$ 34, the pricing model is designed to be accessible to a wide audience.

The implications of this project are twofold:

1. Genre Legitimacy: The success of this campaign will further solidify the "genre-emulation" niche in the TTRPG space. It suggests that there is a long-term viability for games that are built around specific literary or historical themes.
2. Narrative-First Design: By removing the emphasis on combat, Castles in the Air forces a shift in how players interact with their environment. It rewards empathy, active listening, and long-term narrative planning. If the game succeeds, it may influence future designers to move away from the "level-up" progression system in favor of "character arc" progression.

Conclusion: A New Chapter in Collaborative Storytelling

Castles in the Air is an ambitious project that dares to ask what happens when players are tasked with the most difficult challenge of all: growing up. By blending the historical flavor of the Gilded Age with the emotional resonance of classic literature, the game offers a unique experience that stands out in a crowded market.

For those who have ever wanted to step into the pages of a period novel and dictate the path of its protagonists, Castles in the Air provides not just a set of rules, but a landscape for emotional exploration. Whether the characters end up finding their dreams or discovering that life had other plans, the journey—from the sun-drenched fields of childhood to the complexities of the adult world—promises to be a memorable addition to the tabletop landscape.

As the crowdfunding campaign enters its final stages, the anticipation continues to build, signaling that many players are ready to put down their swords and pick up their pens.