Official Kickstarter Pre-Launch • 2026 Release

Build Sovereign Black Towns.
Take The Ledger.

Between 1865 and 1930, African Americans built over 1,200 autonomous towns, credit unions, trade guilds, and economic sanctuaries. Sanctuary & Stone puts the blueprints, the mutual aid ledger, and the collective defense in your hands.

1–4
Players (Co-op/Solo)
60–90
Minutes / Session
5
Historical Eras
180+
Illustrated Cards
Play Live Browser Simulator

Lock in $15 off retail price, exclusive Metal Founder Coins, and Day-1 Kickstarter priority shipping.

Sanctuary & Stone Sovereign Ground Deluxe Collector Edition Board Game Box
Deluxe Collector's Box (Linen-Finish Embossed) Artisan Woodcut Relief

A True Economic Strategy Game Rooted in Real History

Designed with rigorous archival research, Sanctuary & Stone simulates the real economic tools African Americans used to build resilient communities against overwhelming systemic odds.

36-Plot Town Grid Building

Survey raw land and construct 12 distinct historical guild enterprises: Brickworks, Cotton Gins, Printing Presses, Hospitals, Black Banks, and Community Churches. Strategic adjacency fuels your town's economic growth.

The Susu & Dollar Velocity Flywheel

In historical Black Wall Streets, currency circulated up to 19 months within the community before leaving. In Sanctuary & Stone, players pool resources through a communal Susu fund, earning exponential Sovereignty multipliers for internal trade.

Collective Defense & Crisis Management

History wasn't easy. Draw event cards representing real historical resistance—Jim Crow redlining, bank panics, rail embargoes, and racial terror—and defeat them through Guild solidarity, legal funds, and armed community sentinels.

Inside the Kickstarter Collector's Box

Every component is manufactured with museum-grade materials: heavy linen-embossed cardstock, solid carved walnut player boards, and weighty antique brass metal coins.

Sanctuary & Stone Sovereign Ground 4-Player Tabletop Game Board Spread

Quad-Fold Linen Map Board with 36 Town Plots

The centerpiece of every game session is an intricately illustrated 24" x 24" quad-fold board capturing the transition from raw untamed territory to a bustling, self-sustaining historic Black metropolis.

  • Recessed Walnut Player Mats: Track Labor, Capital, Influence, and Sovereignty with solid wooden tracker pegs.
  • 60 Carved Wooden Meeples & Tokens: Custom wooden timber logs, red clay bricks, white cotton bales, and founder meeples.
  • 64-Page Illustrated Historical Rulebook: Includes primary-source archival documents, builder bios, and an educator study guide.
Four Historical Leader Cards: Maggie Lena Walker, OW Gurley, Isaiah Montgomery, Biddy Mason

60 Illustrated Historical Leader & Guild Cards

Play as legendary visionaries who made history. Each leader brings historically grounded asymmetrical tactical abilities and economic traits to your settlement:

  • Maggie Lena Walker: First woman bank president in the U.S. (St. Luke Penny Savings Bank) — unlocks advanced credit and dividend bonuses.
  • O.W. Gurley: Greenwood Tulsa hotelier and landowner — grants dual commercial zone bonuses and immigrant influx speed.
  • Isaiah T. Montgomery: Co-founder of Mound Bayou, MS — provides frontier clearance discounts and autonomy defense buffs.
  • Biddy Mason: Enslaved woman turned Los Angeles real estate pioneer & healer — provides universal community wellness and land acquisition leverage.
Complete Components Breakdown Flatlay for Sanctuary & Stone Sovereign Ground

Engineered for Generations of Play

No flimsy paper or cheap plastic. We engineered Sanctuary & Stone to endure hundreds of family game nights and classroom workshops.

  • 40 Antique Brass Metal Coins: Embossed with authentic West African Cowrie symbols and numerical denominations.
  • 180 Linen-Finish Cards: Protected with anti-scratch UV coating and divided into 4 custom tuck boxes.
  • Digital Companion Companion Web App: Automated scorekeeper, audio historical narrations, and solo AI opponent.

Complete Core Box Inventory

1x Deluxe Board
Quad-Fold Linen Map
24" x 24" 2mm thickness with anti-warp core and town velocity tracks.
4x Wooden Mats
Dual-Layer Player Boards
Recessed slots to secure resource tracker cubes during intense play.
180x Cards
Linen Historical Deck
60 Leaders, 50 Enterprises, 40 Historical Crises, 30 Heritage Artifacts.
40x Metal Coins
Solid Brass Susu Coins
Heavyweight minted coins in 1, 5, and 10 Sovereignty denominations.
60x Wooden Pieces
Carved Meeples & Yields
Brick, Timber, Cotton, and Founder pawns carved from FSC beechwood.
1x Compendium
64-Page Field Guide
Rulebook, historical biographies, teacher curriculum, and solo campaign guide.

How Sanctuary & Stone Plays

Each round represents one critical season in your town's founding across 4 distinct phases:

Phase 1

The Dawn Assembly

Gather labor hours, harvest timber and red clay yields, and choose how much capital to contribute to the communal Susu Treasury for collective interest.

Phase 2

The Blueprint Phase

Purchase and place building tiles across the 36-plot grid. Connect supply chains—supply timber to the sawmill to supply wood for the printing press and hospital.

Phase 3

Commerce & Velocity

Trade resources and services between player-owned shops. Every time a dollar changes hands internally, all participating players gain Sovereignty Points.

Phase 4

The Historic Trial

Flip the seasonal Crisis Card. Work together using legal defense funds, community sentinels, or mutual aid insurance to protect your town from destruction.

5 Epic Campaigns to Master

Play through 5 distinct eras of African American self-determination, each with custom rule twists, historical events, and unique victory conditions.

Era: Reconstruction Delta Difficulty: Medium Focus: Agriculture & Autonomy

Mound Bayou: The Jewel of the Mississippi Delta

Founded by former enslaved people led by Isaiah T. Montgomery, Mound Bayou carved out an entirely Black-owned, self-governing town in the dense bottomland swamps of Mississippi. Build cotton gins, an independent oil mill, and a municipal bank while holding off state-level disenfranchisement.

Unique Scenario Twist: The Great Yazoo Floods & Railroad Boycott. Players must construct levee networks and establish an independent freight cooperative.

Key Historical Figure:Isaiah T. Montgomery
Starting Capital:$150 + 2 Wood Plots
Primary Objective:Build 30 Sovereignty & Charter Bank
Crisis Deck:Delta Fevers, Jim Crow Railroad Rates
Era: The Roaring Twenties Difficulty: Expert Focus: High Finance & Luxury Trade

Greenwood: Black Wall Street

Experience the bustling golden age of Tulsa's Greenwood district. Build lavish modern hotels, private airplane hangars, luxury fashion houses, and state-of-the-art hospitals. Drive dollar velocity to record heights where money circulates 19 times within the district.

Unique Scenario Twist: Hostile Municipal Zoning & Racial Terror. Players must establish an armed community defense watch and secret mutual aid vaults.

Key Historical Figure:O.W. Gurley & J.B. Stradford
Starting Capital:$400 + 4 Commercial Plots
Primary Objective:Reach 50 Sovereignty & Dollar Velocity 10x
Crisis Deck:Insurance Cancellations, Lynch Mob Alert
Era: Colonial Spanish Florida Difficulty: Hard Focus: Fortification & Guerilla Defense

Fort Mose: The First Free Black Settlement

In 1738, self-emancipated Africans escaped British colonies to Spanish Florida and established Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose. Build fortified earthworks, establish allied Yamasee trade routes, and command a free Black militia.

Unique Scenario Twist: British Siege from Georgia. All players must coordinate defensive maneuvers and supply lines to hold the fortress.

Key Historical Figure:Captain Francisco Menéndez
Starting Capital:20 Rations + 4 Palisade Walls
Primary Objective:Survive 6 British Assault Waves
Crisis Deck:Naval Blockade, Tropical Storms
Era: The Prairie Exodusters Difficulty: Medium Focus: Land Homesteading & Politics

Boley & Langston: The All-Black Prairie State

Following the Civil War, Edward P. McCabe and tens of thousands of Exodusters migrated to Oklahoma territory with the bold vision of creating an All-Black sovereign U.S. state. Found over 50 all-Black towns, construct universities, and establish electric utilities.

Unique Scenario Twist: Statehood Disenfranchisement Bill. Race against the federal clock to establish permanent municipal charters.

Key Historical Figure:Edward P. McCabe
Starting Capital:160 Acres Homestead Land
Primary Objective:Found Langston University & 10 Towns
Crisis Deck:Dust Blizzards, Oklahoma Disenfranchisement
Era: The Great Migration Difficulty: High Focus: Media, Labor Unions & Jazz

Bronzeville: The Black Metropolis

During the Great Migration, Chicago's South Side exploded into the economic and cultural capital of Black America. Print the legendary Chicago Defender, establish the Savoy Ballroom, and found the first Black national bank in the North.

Unique Scenario Twist: Restrictive Housing Covenants. Players must construct cooperative housing trusts to break redlining walls.

Key Historical Figure:Robert S. Abbott & Jesse Binga
Starting Capital:$300 + 1 Printing Press
Primary Objective:Reach 50,000 Readership & 40 Sovereignty
Crisis Deck:The Great Depression, Red Summer 1919

Test Your Strategy in the Live Digital Game

We built the complete commercial game engine into a fast, standalone web app so you can play right now in your browser before the physical board game arrives.

Sanctuary & Stone — Founder's Companion Simulator (v2.6) VIP Access Gated
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Choose Your Founder Level

Reserve for $1 today to lock in your Early Bird discount, day-one delivery priority, and Kickstarter-exclusive stretch goals.

Digital Pioneer

$25
Digital PWA + Print-and-Play
  • High-Res PDF Print-and-Play Cards & Board
  • Lifetime Access to Digital Companion App
  • Historical Audio Narration Soundtracks
  • Name in Rulebook Digital Credits

Deluxe Collector

$89
MSRP $115 (Save $26)
  • Everything in Core Box +
  • 40 Minted Solid Brass Susu Coins
  • Gold-Foil Embossed Collector's Box
  • Velvet Component Storage Pouches
  • Exclusive 5th Campaign: Bronzeville 1935
  • Numbered Certificate of Authenticity

Classroom / Guild

$225
5x Core Boxes (Save $100)
  • 5 Full Core Tabletop Board Game Boxes
  • Comprehensive K-12 Educator Curriculum
  • Primary Source Classroom Discussion Guides
  • Virtual Q&A Session with Creators
  • Dedicated School / Library Plaque

Everything You Need to Know

Is this a purely cooperative game or competitive?

Sanctuary & Stone can be played both ways! The standard mode is Semi-Cooperative with Asymmetric Win Conditions—players compete to see whose district achieves the highest individual Sovereignty, but if the town as a collective fails to withstand the Crisis Phase, everyone loses together. It also features a fully dedicated Pure Co-op Campaign and a Solo Automa Mode.

Why is there a $1 VIP Reservation?

The $1 VIP deposit locks in your Early Bird tier pricing ($15–$26 discount off MSRP), guarantees you receive the Kickstarter-Exclusive Solid Brass Metal Coins for free, and gives you Day-1 priority shipping when the freight containers land.

How historically accurate is the game?

Deeply accurate. Every leader, building type, crisis event, and mutual aid mechanic is drawn directly from primary historical archives, university African American history collections, and historical deeds from towns like Mound Bayou, Fort Mose, and Greenwood Tulsa.

When does the Kickstarter launch?

The official Kickstarter campaign goes live this quarter. All $1 VIP backers will receive an automated SMS and email notification 2 hours before the public launch to claim the limited Early Bird slots.