Marchbank PavilionOfficial Site
The painted showfront of the Marchbank Pavilion at dusk, gilded panels edged with bulbs, old boxers painted on the side boards, townsfolk gathered below Dolly Marchbank painted large on the centre board, one glove raised high, the other guarding her chin

BOOTHFIST

Aldwych-on-Sea, August 1936

Stand three rounds with Dolly Marchbank and the blue ribbon is yours.

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Closed playtest on

The Arrival

Nine nights on the green behind the pier, and an open invitation to anyone in the crowd who fancies climbing in.

Aldwych-on-Sea pier in late gold light, a roped square laid out on the planks, the chapel and painted terraces on the hill behind
The Marchbank Pavilion has come to Aldwych-on-Sea every August since the old king's time. The town knows the wagons before it hears the organ.

his year Dolly Marchbank drives the lead wagon herself. Her father rides in the second one with the curtains shut. His cough came back in Shrewsbury. Two of the lads walked off in Hereford.

That leaves Dolly, old Fen Hollins on the gate, a ring that takes four people to raise, and a bell nobody else is allowed to ring.

She is thirty-six. She has fought in this booth since she was fifteen, and she has never liked the towns. They shout her name for an evening and forget it by Tuesday. She expects Aldwych-on-Sea to be the same.

Aldwych turns out different. The butcher lends her a horse. The nurse from the cottage hospital looks at her father and tells her the truth about his chest. On the first night, the town queues to climb into her ring.

The back lot behind the pavilion in the morning: two painted living wagons, a folded striped tent on the grass, the round bell sitting on a crate
First morning. Dolly pegs out the ring by hand and sets the bell on a crate where she can see it from the wagon step.

The Line-up

The town sends its people up one at a time. They all lose, and the tent carries each of them out like a winner.

First nightAlbert PughThe butcher on Quay Street. Fifty-eight, and he climbs in still wearing the apron because his wife told him not to.

Third nightHartley OkaforSchoolmaster. He boxed at college and he fights like he is marking an exam, one clean jab at a time.

Fifth nightIvy LorrimerThe nurse who looked at Dolly's father. She comes on her night off and will not stop grinning.

Seventh nightEmrys BevanNineteen, straight up from the pit at Cwm Lleuad with half the shift behind him, stamping on the boards.

A patched brown glove landing on an open palm, sawdust and flakes of painted enamel bursting from the contact

The crowd keeps the rules

Third night. The schoolmaster lands one clean jab and the tent goes silent. In that silence, every blow counts twice. Then the pit lads start stamping and the whole booth speeds up: quicker hands, shorter rests between rounds.

  • RoaringBoth fighters strike faster. The rest between rounds is short.

  • TenseAn even fight on the usual rules.

  • HushedEvery blow that lands counts twice. Yours and hers.

You move the crowd with what you do. Combinations and a showman's pose raise the roar. Stand off and they go quiet.

Last Round Bell

The crowd is tense

Albert Pugh in the ring, leaning forward like a bull Dolly Marchbank seen from behind, guard up, facing the challenger

Albert Pugh takes a blow like a side of beef. It needs more of Dolly's to put him down.

Keys J, F, P and S work once the bell rings.
Or call the three rounds at once. How do you work the crowd?

The Last Bell

On the ninth night the last challenger takes off a red coat and hangs it on the ropes. Dolly knows her before the coat comes off.

Dolly Marchbank and Cora Vane chest to chest in the sawdust ring, gloves pressed together, foreheads almost touching, the brass bell behind them

Cora Vane was eleven when the pavilion picked her up on the Leeds road. Dolly taught her to keep her chin down and her feet under her. When Cora was seventeen, Dolly left her behind in a town like this one. One wagon short, one mouth too many. Dolly told herself it was for the best and never wrote.

Now Cora is twenty-eight and fights like Dolly did at her age: quiet, upright, patient. She wants the Marchbank name painted off the showfront. Or she wants Dolly to say sorry in front of the whole town. She won't say which.

Dolly's father can't take the road again. Whoever wins tonight, the wagons stay in Aldwych-on-Sea.

Cora Vane standing side-on in a long red coat, braid pinned tight round her head, lead glove low, rear glove at her jaw
Close painting of Dolly's eyes under dark curls, a white scar through one eyebrow, looking away and down

"You kept the bell. I thought you'd have lost that too."

Cora Vane, before the first round

Rung once

One ring starts a round. Three end the night. When the bout is over, Fen lifts the hammer for the last three rings of the last show. Dolly stops his hand.

She rings it once. Nobody in the tent goes home.

The Marchbank round bell, brass dome on a gilded red bracket with its striker hammer

Bills for the WeekPasted on the pier gate

Now Showing to Playtesters

The Marchbank Pavilion opens its doors to a closed playtest, 18 to 21 February 2027.

The story
The Arrival and The Line-up, played in full. The Last Bell waits for launch.
Challengers
Albert Pugh, Hartley Okafor, Ivy Lorrimer and Emrys Bevan, each with their own night.
Grounds
The tent ring and the roped square on the pier.
The crowd
Roaring, tense and hushed rules on every bout.
Platforms
PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Anyone in the crowd may step up. Names on the board by 31 January.

Why the crowd got a vote

Early builds had a stamina bar and a fair fight. It felt wrong. A booth bout in 1936 belonged to whoever had the tent behind them.

So we gave the crowd the rules. A hushed tent makes every blow count twice; a roaring one speeds everything up. The playtest is where we find out whether the town of Aldwych-on-Sea agrees with us.

Put your name on the board if you want to be in the tent in February.

An old pair of gloves hanging from a nail by their laces, a blue rosette tied to one lace

Put your name on the board

Closed playtest, 18 to 21 February 2027. We'll write once, with your invitation, before the doors open.

Where will you play?

Notices

Four boards by the gate. Marchbank & Vane Interactive Ltd. runs this site and the playtest.

Privacy

What we keep when you register, why, and how to make us delete it.

Terms

The rules for using this site and taking part in the closed playtest.

EULA

The licence that comes with the playtest build.

Help

Invitations, controls, accessibility, and how to reach a person.

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