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ysabetwordsmithSomeone is making a tabletop roleplaying game that is entirely about refugees. I am so excited! And it's very affordable.
The Details of Our Escape: A New TTRPG
A creative collaboration between game designer Tyler Crumrine, comics artist Linnea Sterte, and multidisciplinary author Renee Gladman.
$13,137 pledged of $10,000 goal
842 backers
13 days to go
The Details of Our Escape is a new tabletop roleplaying game from ENnie Award-winning game designer Tyler Crumrine, two-time Eisner-nominated comics artist Linnea Sterte, and Windham-Campbell Prize winner in fiction Renee Gladman. Played with a standard 28-tile set of dominos instead of dice, players control a caravan of over 2000 people in search of a new home. What they're leaving and what kinds of strange & wonderful sights they encounter along their journey is up to you. Which party members continue all the way to the caravan's final destination, however, is up to fate.
Optimized for 2-7 players without a game master, modifications and guidance are included for both solo and online play.
The Details of Our Escape will be published as a full-color, 30-50 page, 5.5x8.5", saddle-stitched zine. For ease of play, each copy will also come packaged with heavy-stock, cut-out domino sheets designed by Hinokodo in a resealable bag.
The Details of Our Escape is a "caravan-style" TTRPG, which means players control groups of 10-600 people within a larger 2348-person caravan. Dominos drawn at the start of the game dictate the size of each group, but each player decides what binds their group together, what they're fleeing, and what they're searching for.
A hand of dominos is drawn at the start of each leg of the journey and then played in sequence to build a path—sometimes veering towards good things, sometimes away from bad things. Dominos' numbers inform what the caravan discovers each tile, and the active player dictates all encounters and their individual group's reactions.
When someone runs out of playable tiles the caravan has reached a door (literal or figurative). Pulling from knowledge gathered on your travels, players work together to unlock the door and continue. Depending on the the size of your group and tiles encountered, however, your group may instead settle in the surrounding area rather than moving forward.
$20 -- The Details of Our Escape: Print & PDF
A print copy of The Details of Our Escape packaged alongside high-quality, cut-out domino sheets for ease of play. Includes all PDF rewards as well.
Things I love about this game already:
* It is entirely about refugees. The setup is flexible, the details are yours to decide, but it's ultimately about people fleeing their homes for some driving reason(s). First, that's a totally different scenario for conflicts when compared to most games. Second, it's a chance for players to explore not only issues for current refugees or people in places where refugees come, but also their past as most people's ancestors had to run for their lives at some point in history. This makes it a great asset for supporting diversity in your game collection.
* The scenario should also appeal to:
-- experienced gamers who want a new premise to play
-- milieu gamers who like to explore a setting through travel
-- military, miniature, or euro gamers who are used to handling groups of characters and resources
And most gaming groups will include some of the above folks.
* The cockamamie tone in the Kickstarter pitch vignettes is exactly the right counterbalance for the fundamentally grim context of refugee flight. Compare the original Battlestar Galactica with the modern remake for an example of why comic relief is crucial for high-tension storylines -- or read Tolkien for a demonstration of the hurt/comfort ratchet.
* It has group, solo, and online modes of play. I always admire a game that can offer multiple modes.
* The use of dominoes as a chance mechanic is clever and well-suited to a large group of characters with smaller subgroups. If you want a more tactile experience, use a nice set of ceramic dominoes.
* It's concise and therefore affordable. As much as I enjoy the gorgeous art common in gamebooks today, this becomes a barrier when you have to buy 2+ of the damn things and they are $50-100 each. Some systems have dozens of gamebooks. Here $20 gets you All The Things. I admire a game that can set up a solid, interesting scenario and a useful rule set in one book, especially a small book.
I can hardly wait to get my hot little hands on this one. :D It's due out in June 2024, so even if it hits delays, it's more likely than not to arrive some time this year.
The Details of Our Escape: A New TTRPG
A creative collaboration between game designer Tyler Crumrine, comics artist Linnea Sterte, and multidisciplinary author Renee Gladman.
$13,137 pledged of $10,000 goal
842 backers
13 days to go
The Details of Our Escape is a new tabletop roleplaying game from ENnie Award-winning game designer Tyler Crumrine, two-time Eisner-nominated comics artist Linnea Sterte, and Windham-Campbell Prize winner in fiction Renee Gladman. Played with a standard 28-tile set of dominos instead of dice, players control a caravan of over 2000 people in search of a new home. What they're leaving and what kinds of strange & wonderful sights they encounter along their journey is up to you. Which party members continue all the way to the caravan's final destination, however, is up to fate.
Optimized for 2-7 players without a game master, modifications and guidance are included for both solo and online play.
The Details of Our Escape will be published as a full-color, 30-50 page, 5.5x8.5", saddle-stitched zine. For ease of play, each copy will also come packaged with heavy-stock, cut-out domino sheets designed by Hinokodo in a resealable bag.
The Details of Our Escape is a "caravan-style" TTRPG, which means players control groups of 10-600 people within a larger 2348-person caravan. Dominos drawn at the start of the game dictate the size of each group, but each player decides what binds their group together, what they're fleeing, and what they're searching for.
A hand of dominos is drawn at the start of each leg of the journey and then played in sequence to build a path—sometimes veering towards good things, sometimes away from bad things. Dominos' numbers inform what the caravan discovers each tile, and the active player dictates all encounters and their individual group's reactions.
When someone runs out of playable tiles the caravan has reached a door (literal or figurative). Pulling from knowledge gathered on your travels, players work together to unlock the door and continue. Depending on the the size of your group and tiles encountered, however, your group may instead settle in the surrounding area rather than moving forward.
$20 -- The Details of Our Escape: Print & PDF
A print copy of The Details of Our Escape packaged alongside high-quality, cut-out domino sheets for ease of play. Includes all PDF rewards as well.
Things I love about this game already:
* It is entirely about refugees. The setup is flexible, the details are yours to decide, but it's ultimately about people fleeing their homes for some driving reason(s). First, that's a totally different scenario for conflicts when compared to most games. Second, it's a chance for players to explore not only issues for current refugees or people in places where refugees come, but also their past as most people's ancestors had to run for their lives at some point in history. This makes it a great asset for supporting diversity in your game collection.
* The scenario should also appeal to:
-- experienced gamers who want a new premise to play
-- milieu gamers who like to explore a setting through travel
-- military, miniature, or euro gamers who are used to handling groups of characters and resources
And most gaming groups will include some of the above folks.
* The cockamamie tone in the Kickstarter pitch vignettes is exactly the right counterbalance for the fundamentally grim context of refugee flight. Compare the original Battlestar Galactica with the modern remake for an example of why comic relief is crucial for high-tension storylines -- or read Tolkien for a demonstration of the hurt/comfort ratchet.
* It has group, solo, and online modes of play. I always admire a game that can offer multiple modes.
* The use of dominoes as a chance mechanic is clever and well-suited to a large group of characters with smaller subgroups. If you want a more tactile experience, use a nice set of ceramic dominoes.
* It's concise and therefore affordable. As much as I enjoy the gorgeous art common in gamebooks today, this becomes a barrier when you have to buy 2+ of the damn things and they are $50-100 each. Some systems have dozens of gamebooks. Here $20 gets you All The Things. I admire a game that can set up a solid, interesting scenario and a useful rule set in one book, especially a small book.
I can hardly wait to get my hot little hands on this one. :D It's due out in June 2024, so even if it hits delays, it's more likely than not to arrive some time this year.
