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Just before youthe play shelf is taking an extended break (we’ll be back July 12!) I’m thrilled to be able to highlight some board games and creators who have worked hard over the past few months to bring us some great pieces. We have an independent studio Games of possible worlds as well as a bit of a new direction for the shelf, a text game book currently crowdfunded.
Creator Spotlight: Tyler Crumrine
Also known as the founder and publisher of Possible Worlds Games, Tyler Crumrine has produced incredible work since founding the studio following his success with 2020’s hit map/label RPG. Beak, feather and bone. After successful crowdfunding Possible Worlds RPG Series in 2021 (which was delivered this year!), and by creating a reciprocal grant program for artists, it returned to Beak, feather and bone and created an amazing new supplement. Atlas of the claw is an extension for Beak, feather and bone, and includes 10 new cards and alternate game rules. He has already successfully reached his crowdfunding goal and the campaign will continue until July 1st.
From the game’s original page, “Inspired by card-making games like Avery Alder’s The Quiet Year and archetype-focused RPG systems like those of Meguey and Vincent Baker Powered by Apocalypse, Beak, feather and bone is a zine-length game featuring game rules, 11 community roles illustrated by Austin Breed, a map by Jonathan Yee, and legends and GM’s tips for hosting games in a city populated entirely by crows.
New releases: Absurd, In God’s Green Land, Dome Day 10XX
“Absurd is a modern, absurd fantasy game about the senseless hilarity and understated horror of everyday life. You play as the inhabitants of a surreal suburban town marred by chaos and entropy, where the other world is ordinary and the mundane, terrifying. He draws inspiration from works of absurd humour, surreal horror and literary absurdities like Welcome to Night Vale, Alice in Wonderlandand Gravity Falls.”
In God’s Green Eartha first level dungeon for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, “A farmer disappeared in the forest. The tracks lead to a small hill with a stone brick gate protruding from it. The bricks are old and covered with moss. What grows deep in the earth?
10XX is a game about resistance to the Norman invasion of England. You are marginalized Englishmen – poor, excluded, ignored – trying to protect your neighbors and screaming a violent cry before your inevitable death. (Available in Modern or Old English)
Crowdfunding: 50 years of text games, the last adventure
“In [50 Years of Text Games] you will find 50 in-depth chapters, covering 50 games: one released every year beginning in 1971, when a Minnesota teacher introduced a ticker into his classroom to start a game called The Oregon Trail—until 2020 and the latest AI storytellers. Revised and improved from the acclaimed blog series, each featured game boasts a rich, in-depth analysis of how it works, what it’s about, why it’s special, and its lasting legacy.
“In The last adventure, you are a warrior, a champion and a monster slayer. Now you have come to die, but on the shore of death neither family nor ancient heroes greet you… The last adventure is a tabletop role-playing adventure game in two zines. The first zine is you: a warrior, now dead, still looking for adventure. The second zine is The Land of Death: the locations and landscapes of the Land of the Dead, and the people and monsters you will encounter there. (From one of the co-creators of apocalyptic world and the Powered by the Apocalypse system.)
In other news
- Free league publication has a summer sale, includes games such as ALINK The Roleplaying Game, Vaesen – Norse Horror Roleplaying Game, Tales from the Loop, Forbidden Lands, Symbaroum, Coriolis – The Third Horizon and Mutant: Year Zero.
- BackerKit dropped plans for its new crowdfunding platform and initial commitments include Monte Cook Games, Story Engine, Exalted Funeral, Restoration Games, and Unstable Games among others.
- The Queer game set is available for another week on itch.io.
- B. Dave Walters conducted a J&D session for some members of the stranger things cast and said in an io9 exclusive comment via email, “stranger things holds a special place in my heart because it was the world I grew up in. Their story IS my story (maybe with a few more monsters.) Being able to join the Hellfire Club and bring the Arch-Lich Vecna to glorious unlife was one of the highlights of my career. .. and the ending is one of the craziest things I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing!
- The new educational board game from Artana Games, First in flight is currently in crowdfunding.
- Don’t look too closely at your neighbours… the rear window board game is now available.
- Ticket to Ride: San Francisco is available now exclusively at Target.
- Members of Dungeons & Dragons the community made accusations against popular players Satine Pheonix and Jamison Stone, accusing them of abuse and mistreatment (RBC, comics).
Want more io9 news? Find out when to wait for the last wonder and star wars versions, what’s next for the DC Universe in Film and TVand everything you need to know about Dragon House and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
