A few months ago, I caught wind that The Dietz Foundation was working with a new designer named Yoni Goldstein on his first game called Chicago ’68 for a summer Kickstarter campaign. Chicago ’68 deals with the Democratic National Convention riots of 1968 in Chicago and sees players taking on the role of either the Establishment or the Demonstrators in a fast-paced game of street battles and political maneuvers. I reached out to Yoni and he was more than willing to discuss the game with me and also work on a series of Event Card spoiler posts in a run up to the Kickstarter campaign that is set to launch on August 6th.

In this series of Event Cards Spoilers, we will cover several different types of cards included in the game and give their details so that you can understand how the game works and how it incorporates the historical narrative of the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention Riots.

But first off, a bit about the game itself. Chicago ’68 is a game about the riots during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, set against the social upheavals of America in the sixties. On one side: the Youth International Party (aka The Yippies) and the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (aka the MOBE), on the other: Mayor Daley, the Chicago Police Department and the National Guard. The game unfolds over the course of three days during the Democratic National Convention – from the 26th to the 29th of August, culminating in the nomination of a presidential candidate. There are two victory conditions: one is to gain the most media exposure favorable to your side and the other is to influence the delegate vote and bolster your political aims. The Demonstrators may pivot between these two objectives while the Establishment, although more powerful, must fight and win on both fronts.

Card #7: Street Theater Cards: Street Theater Cards: Jean and Allen & Allen Ginsberg OMM Chant

The DNC protests attracted a notable coterie of poets, writers, and musicians. For me, the most adorable were the French playwright Jean Genet (a favorite among the Panthers) and beat poet Allen Ginsberg. I highly recommend watching this short film about Jean Genet in Chicago for his radical outsider perspective. Genet and Ginsberg, along with William S. Burroughs and Terry Southern, were dispatched by Esquire Magazine to report on the convention. A “hard-hitting little press team,” Southern wrote, that “had one hell of a time actually getting admitted to the hall, despite proper credentials. Burroughs and I, of course, are veritable paragons of fashion and decorum—but Ginsberg and Genet, it must be admitted, are pretty weird-looking guys.”

Here is a UPI telex from one of their exchanges with the media:

CHICAGO (UPI) Jean Genet, French Playwright, stood in Lincoln Park Monday and talked about a flower.

Poet Allen Ginsberg translated for newsmen at a news conference sponsored by the youth international party–“yippies.”

“I like plants. I like much flowers,” Genet said.

He pointed to a nearby high rise apartment building.

“I will wait as long as necessary till all the plants and all the flowers cover all those buildings and make them all poetic.

“I will wait as long as necessary for America to rot,” the French poet said. “you have begun.”

Then as he looked at yippies, some newsmen snickered.

“And I wait,” Genet said.

Allen Ginsberg attended the riots and attempted to calm the crowds down by chanting OMM to them in the various parks where they gathered. He then later was asked to give testimony at the Chicago Conspiracy Trial famously chanting OM and Hare Krishna for the jury as a demonstration of what he did in an attempt to calm the crowds during the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

You can catch up on the series to date by following these links:

Card #1 – Police Action Card: Mass Arrest

Card #2 – Mob Chaos Card: “A stiff west wind…”

Card #3 – Supplementary Police Action Card: Flame-Throwers

Card #4 – Street Theater Card: The Battle of Michigan Ave

Card #5 – Tactics Card: Mob Payoffs

Card #6: Street Theater Card: Improvised Barricades

This was the final entry in the series and I want to thank Yoni for his time in sharing this great game with us and for his work on putting this very interesting game together. I am very much excited about this one and look forward to seeing more as the game continues to develop.

We recently published an interview with the designer Yoni Goldstein and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2024/07/22/interview-with-yoni-goldstein-designer-of-chicago-68-from-the-dietz-foundation-coming-to-kickstarter-august-6th/

Also, if you are interested in learning more about Chicago ’68, you can visit the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dietzfoundation/chicago-68?ref=discovery

But hurry as the Kickstarter will end on September 5th at 8:15am EDT.

-Grant