#kickstarted

Prelaunch is up for my first solo journaling RPG The Edge of Survival is up!

Play as an astronaut untethered from your ship in a solo journaling RPG of dire circumstances, of desperation and hope.🧑‍🚀

“Werewolves are pack creatures, but this isn't that game. Betrayed, alone, and full of rage, your character undertakes a harrowing journey of troubles and self-discovery. As the narrative evolves in this paranormal horror setting, you realize there may be more to your betrayer's motives.” - Kickstarter page quote

I came across this on Kickstarter and it seemed like fun to me so passing along in case anyone else may think so too! I do think it could also be a helpful writing exercise.

Rue from Ruin is a solo rpg which is a blend between narrative journalling and mechanical. You get given the scenarios you can flesh out and determine more details for your character and what happens, but the dice and some character sheet costs/aspects can determine things as well.

Some early player reviews which were part of piquing my own interest:

“"I like a solo game which gives me both the shape of a story and invites me to fill in my own details. Rue From Ruin is set up to push the player relentlessly forward with the moon cycle and all the Troubles. That's a story arc fit to the lonely werewolf theme. The Troubles are loosely written, and that's where I get to add my own specific drama and details. Playing this will be a journey to ruin or maybe something even worse." -Matthew Orr of Wet Ink Games”

“"Even though Rue From Ruin is designed as a solo game, I played it with friends where we took turns rolling dice and pitching ideas for how the story should unfold. The game was easy to adapt this way, and it made for some really creative thinking. We heaped loads of Troubles on our shared character, and it was fun to figure out how they all string together. The story practically wrote itself!" -Tori Fica of Level 1 Geek”

A mix of personal and very literal horror as well as investigation in aiming to unlock clues to achieve one of what’s said to be 216 possible endings.

The digital version of all the content is $9 to back, so if interested I would genuinely recommend looking this up to learn more about it.

Max Gentlemen Sexy Business

Developer: The Men Who Wear Many Hats Publisher: The Men Who Wear Many Hats Rrp: £15.49 (Steam) Released: 25th February 2020 Available on: Steam Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard Approximate game length: 2 Hours

Genre blending is a wonderful thing, well it can be, I'm sure that there's some genres that just don't mix but I've yet to see it myself. The genre that seems to be popular and a favourite among games developers (especially indie ones) is the dating sim. I've seen dating sims mixed with match three, hack and slash and now a tycoon game. Max Gentlemen Sexy Business is the combination of a dating simulator and a tycoon game. You play as your 'Gentsona' (a persona that you make before the game proper starts, which can be male, female or non-binary) and are referred to by your staff, the trusty Business Maid and Battle Butler, as Sir or Boss or Madam depending on the players choice. In the interests of full disclosure I want it known that I backed this game on Kickstarter. It should also be noted this game has got nudity included.

The tycoon game aspect of this is kept lite, you don't need to worry about buying businesses or even paying employees. This is a game where you literally get money by placing an executive at the bank. Really rather than managing a business you manage your various executives stamina metres (or moxxi as the game calls it) making sure to rest your tired executives and replace them with ones that aren't exhausted. As you play you have the opportunity to hire one of three executives at a time every two (in game) weeks, with there being twelve in total to bring in. Every single one of them can be romanced (regardless of your gender), as long as you put the work in. By work, I mean attending lunch dates (a series of mini-games), giving gifts and occasionally making a choice they like.

As was mentioned before, you get to go on lunch dates with your executives which can be one of several mini-games, all of which are random. For example, one such game involves  making your lunch date a cup of tea. You select the type, the strength and if it has sugar, milk or not. Depending on how much you get right you'll be rewarded in accordance. However if you only get it partially right (or entirely wrong) you'll often be given a hint. As you progress romantically with any given executive you will unlock artwork work relating to that character, as well as in game benefits for the that executive and an alternative outfit. There are a lot of alternative outfits to unlock as well as all sorts of extras that make your time within the game a bit easier. Also as a side bonus your romantic progress with your executives is kept between games, so no need to start from scratch when the game sets you back to where you started.

I'm not kidding when I say that, once you defeat your rival (the first antagonist), there is another villain revealed to be behind it all. At that point the game starts over, except this time you get to pick a starting executive from all the ones you've met and romanced so far. Any stat increases they had or items will be gone though, only the romantic progress remains. This game is really funny, if you take the time to read the actual text. There are so many just down right ridiculous things that occur that I couldn't help but smile when reading through the various plot points. I kind of love the insanity of it all.

Enchanted Forest - watercolor

Art by Meredith Dillman

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“Kill your darlings.” “Sweat the details.” And: “If playing [the game] feels like you're taking a math exam, it's probably too complicated.” These are the unwritten creative mantras of Sensible Object, the studio behind the hybrid digital-tabletop game Beasts of Balance. (You can back the new expansion right here.) Below, they share a few projects they love,  and some indie games you should be playing.