Playing Every Game in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
PEGBRJE: Software of Page 33
MUST RESIST URGE TO TAKE BREAK.
FONT
Starting off the page is FONT, a TTRPG created by Narrative Dynamics. While the name made me think this was about letters and calligraphy, in reality it’s about the other use of the word. Players will seek a powerful location called the FONT. The hope is that this magical place can fix their dying, barren world known only as the FISSURE. What stood out most was that it’s a GM-less game. Each player will introduce a ‘test’ that the rest of the players must overcome to ensure survival. It gives each game a focus on how the players are able to interact with each other so that they can solve each issue, especially since the quest may not even end with their success. If you need a short-ish RPG to play with friends, try FONT.
Cage of Sand
Similar in tone, Cage of Sand by luciellaes brings players in to a TTRPG in which they are stuck in a horrific time loop. A solo game at heart (but can be multiplayer with some adjustments!) the player will use tarot cards to slowly unravel what keeps happening to them over and over. A sense of deja vu is a major driving factor of the mood, as their lives will seemingly occur the same way before gruesome murders and a definite end sparks their repeat. If you are a fan of time-looping media centred around murder, this is a perfect game to try out.
Snapshot Shaders Pro (Unity)
Alright, it’s time to take a break from games and bring in the big guns: this is Snapshot Shaders Pro, a multi-facet post processing package by Daniel Ilett. For those not in to Unity development, this gives you easy-to-implement shaders and effects for the HDRP (along with URP and PPv2) to help give your game or sequence some more life. There are 30 total effects to choose from, and each one may have variations to help mix it up.
Do be aware, however, that this was created back in 2019/2020 . If you want to implement these shaders, your Unity version may be too futuristic for this package to work flawlessly. Take care when attempting, and enjoy the pretty effects if you can.
Your Magic Circle
Back to tabletop games, except not? Your Magic Circle, created by KiennaS, is almost like a ritual for game design. It teaches how to envision certain aspects of design while still feeling like a game in itself. Weird, but very effective.
A Warm and Pleasant Hum: A One-Shot for Trophy Dark
Returning to more traditional TTRPGs is A Warm and Pleasant Hum, a one-shot created for Trophy Dark by Michael Van Vleet. This is a terrifyingly strange adventure. Players will venture in to The Humming Woods in the hopes of acquiring something they desire, and it requires the Queen to make it a reality. Unfortunately for the party, however, the Hive is not one to simply allow these things to occur — and that doesn’t even begin to include the player’s own selfish desires. It’s dark and laced with horror themes — even body horror! If you wish to delve in to terrifying bee scenarios, then buzz away; you’ll probably not survive.
Destined
Destined, by Sandy Pug Games, is a TTRPG that examines the stories we leave behind when we die. Players will look in to their own legacy while creating another, all within the five pages that make up the manual. If you enjoy indie TTRPGs about legacy-centric stories, then this is for you.
Penicillin Issue #2
Issue 2 of the Penicillin zine by Micah Anderson, a collection of RPGs and other system information. We were treated to the first issue earlier on, and this one is more of the same with even more authors featured for your amusement. The title still doesn’t make sense, nor does it need to.
Kings and Pigs — Source Godot Code
Well this is a surprise. Kings and Pigs — Source Godot Code is the entire source code packaged neatly together for the game Kings and Pigs. Made for Godot, its purpose is to showcase how the game was created while giving users the tools and source code to learn and try their own hand at making a similar game. Godot is a robust engine. If you are looking to make some inroads in to the engine, this is a great place to start.
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Back to TTRPGs we go with Fair Winds and Following Seas by Tabletop Hotdish. You and your crew of sailors have been assigned a task — randomly for each game — and have the ability to describe the sensory events and sing sea shanties as you go. The voyages are short, but can be numerous depending on the group and play time. The focus is more on the players as they move from voyage to voyage, documenting their experiences and enjoying each other’s company as they go. Ahoy.
Penicillin Issue #3
Penicillin is back for issue 3, featuring Even More Authors and more RPG content than you can handle. Amphibian generators, wine mom dungeons, and more lie within.
Orichalcum
Reflections continue in Orichalcum, a solo/multiplayer mapmaking TTRPG by justinquirit. Those involved will explore a ruined Empire that oppressed the Exiles and drowned in their excess. The players are the ones to return and see what their predecessors have left behind, hundreds of years after the Empire has fallen, while creating connections to how the present ties to the past. These differences will be instrumental to how each game’s map will be unique, so go forth and witness the remnants of colonization.
The Queen Returns
Another TTRPG about witnessing the change in history is The Queen Returns by James Chip. This journaling RPG will have a sole player writing letters to their Queen who has secretly snuck out of the Kingdom during the war. The letters will chronicle the events as tarot cards reveal them, and describe the kingdom’s fate while the Queen is away. Where the twist occurs is when the Queen returns to see what the kingdom has become, and how she may react to it. There may be revolt, there may be ruin, but that cannot be changed; only documented.
SOLACEBOUND
More writing is needed for players of SOLACEBOUND by Sascha Moros, featuring individuals who are trying their best to survive in a city that does not know they truly exist. They are all monsters of the actual sense, trying to blend in to the city and find a way back to their world while coping with the injustices that our world has created. It’s a hack of Alone among the Stars, so if you enjoyed that title this might be right up your alley.
One Last Fight
One Last Fight is a TTRPG by Ethan Hudgens (superrobotbear) that cuts out a lot of the excess and gets right to the final fight that will decide the fate of the world. The cards will prompt each encounter, with players needing to overcome each one in the hopes of finally achieving their end goal; destroying their Nemesis. The world is crafted as the cards are drawn, meaning every fight reveals something new about the world you’re fighting to save. Fast yet deep, it’s a perfect filler game for those looking to spice things up.
https://superrobotbear.itch.io/one-last-fight
Chameleon Moon
A twist so far, Chameleon Moon is a novel written by RoAnna Sylver, who submitted The Three-Body Problem earlier on in the bundle. This is their most celebrated work, featuring two leads dealing with the imminent incineration of their city, Parole.
Alone by Distant Shores
Another hack of Alone Among the Stars, Alone by Distant Shores is a game for one player by Geostatonary. Players will balance between the border of the world and the void that stretches infinitely outside of it, and what may occur while witnessing this convergence. It’s a poetic title, and can work fantastically to set up other campaign characters or give a cathartic experience about the void.
Hidden Stories
At the end of this page is Hidden Stories by kittredge Drake, a TTRPG inspired by Luke Pearson’s Hilda and Miyazaki films. It doesn’t state what it is explicitly, yet uses very explicit words to help describe what it is as an RPG and how to play it. As the title may suggest, the game is about stories hidden in plain sight, a fantastical world melded with our own in a mundane yet fun way. It aims to help new players get in to the feel, but it may confuse others due to its commitment to being vague yet specific. It’s hard to describe, but you can give it a whirl and see for yourself.
That’s it! Hopefully nothing happens like Elden Ring or GW2 or something to make me want to take a break. Haha…
