Space Princess, a board game inspired by Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher, is raising money for a bipolar charity in her memory

A board game inspired by Carrie Fisher is honouring the late Star Wars icon by raising money for a bipolar charity as part of its crowdfunding campaign.

Space Princess pays clear homage to original trilogy opener A New Hope – in particular the escape of Fisher’s Princess Leia from the Death Star – in its two-player battle between a space princess attempting to flee a star cruiser by reaching its escape pods and the ‘Dark Zealot’ and his ‘troopers’ trying to hunt her down.

Gameplay is asymmetric, with the space princess able to fire blasters at troopers, use a hologram as a distraction or hide. Meanwhile, the Dark Zealot and troopers can fire at the princess, use ‘dark powers’ to sense her actions, seal doors and ultimately capture her. Each 15 to 20-minute match ends when the princess escapes or is recaptured.

Designer Michael Addison has taken Space Princess to crowdfunding site Indiegogo, where a boxed copy costs $25 (£18) – a print-and-play version is available for $5 (£4).

In memory of Fisher, Addison’s studio Nerdy Pup Games is vowing to donate its share of the game’s cost – between $5 and $20, depending on the pledge – to the International Bipolar Foundation, a charity supporting those affected by bipolar disorder for which Fisher served on the honourary board before her death in December 2016. Fisher was herself diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spoke openly about her experiences, becoming one of the most prominent advocates for mental health in the public eye.

The studio says that it hopes to raise $1,000 (£722) for the foundation – at the time of writing, over $500 (£361) of the $1,800 (£1,299) pledged to the campaign is going towards the charity. The campaign has a target of $2,500 (£1,805), and has almost another month left on the clock.

As part of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Addison matched the charitable portion of pledges made on the day with his own donation of $131 (£95) to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, an organisation supporting men and women who have been victims of sexual harassment or abuse.

Space Princess is due for release this June, with the print-and-play edition out in April.