Votes for Women, the critically acclaimed card-driven wargame about the fight for women’s suffrage in the US, stands to miss out on up to $60,000 of backing for its second print run after Facebook repeatedly banned ads for the game due to it featuring a “sensitive social issue”.
Tory Brown’s debut game, published by Fort Circle Games, catapulted both designer and publisher into the board gaming limelight following its release in 2022, picking up widespread praise from reviewers including Polygon’s Charlie Hall, who named it one of the year’s best board games, and game design luminaries including Undaunted series co-designer David Thompson.
Awards recognition soon followed, with the game picking up nominations for best wargame and best thematic board game in the 2022 Golden Geek Awards, best early modern wargame in the 2022 Charles S Roberts awards, and last month scooping the 2023 Summit Award celebrating the historical board game which best succeeded in broadening the hobby.
Spurred by the game’s success, publisher Fort Circle launched crowdfunding for a second printing of the game on December 17 last year – a campaign which has already pulled in over $75,000, more than two-and-a-half times the amount raised for its first Kickstarter campaign with 14 days still to go.
But Fort Circle founder Kevin Bertram told BoardGameWire the Facebook ads for the campaign he has been submitting since the start of the New Year are all being rejected after a very short amount of time on the site.
The automated response Bertram is receiving from Facebook says the ads are being rejected because they either mention a politician or are about “sensitive social issues”, which “could influence how people vote and may impact the outcome of an election or pending legislation”.
His requests for review have also all been rejected.
Bertram said, “Facebook has, of course, ignored any requests for information – so I do not know for sure it is a human taking the ads down, but that is what appears to be happening.
“The campaign is a modest success – we should finish at about $120,000 – but we are missing out on a huge potential audience and this may cost us as much as $60,000 in funds raised. Most Kickstarter creators will tell you that Facebook advertising is a crucial piece of the crowdfunding puzzle.
“It is disappointing that a company that has financially benefited in the past from election shenanigans now will not allow advertising for a board game that celebrates a woman’s right to vote. It is beyond disappointing.”
He added, “A woman’s right to vote is not a ‘sensitive social issue’. It is established law and fact. A board game about historical events from over a century ago is unlikely to ‘impact the outcome of an election or pending legislation’.”
Votes for Women designer Tory Brown, a long-time activist who works as a political communications strategist for progressive causes, added, “The struggle for equal representation and a political voice was at the heart of the suffrage movement.
“If you’re concerned about the outsized role that huge corporations like Meta now play in who gets to be heard, consider joining or supporting an organization like the American Economic Liberties Project, Public Citizen, or the Open Markets Institute.
“Together, we can end the concentration of political and economic power held by a few self-serving gatekeepers.”
The Votes for Women second printing Kickstarter runs until January 26. Anyone interested in trying out the game for free digitally can do so through the Rally The Troops website.