Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr
Anecdote
Designed by Michael Fox and Rory O'Connor for Hub Games, Holding On is a unique cooperative game in which one to four players take on the role of the care team for a dying Australian World War II veteran. The structure unfolds across ten scenarios telling the life of Billy Kerr, from his fighting in New Guinea to his final hours in a palliative care unit. The system, almost dice-free, revolves around time management and conversations, with each card revealing a fragment of the patient's past. A session lasts approximately ninety minutes per scenario and delivers an emotional experience of rare intensity in thematic wargaming. The learning curve is very gentle, making the title accessible to non-gaming audiences drawn to the subject matter. The designers worked with the organisation Hospice UK and palliative care consultants, giving the game strong documentary legitimacy. Suzanne Severeid's illustrations favour a soft, warm aesthetic that stands worlds apart from the usual codes of war gaming. Holding On was praised as a rare example of a serious game with both historical and human reach. The title received several distinctions in the thematic and narrative categories, including a Golden Geek nomination. Its influence extends beyond the hobby into the pedagogy of care and of veterans' memory. Hub Games has made it a flagship title, presenting it at university and design conferences. A French translation has yet to materialise, though the Francophone community knows it well through critical coverage. For many, it is the game that proves a cardboard box can address death, memory, and war with as much tact as a quality documentary. Holding On occupies a singular place in the landscape of WWII games, as an act of intimate memory that is also broadly accessible.
Popularity & reception
Distinctions — Diana Jones Award nomination (2019) · Golden Geek - Best Innovative Game nomination (2018) · UK Games Expo - Best Storytelling Game nomination (2019)
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