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Awesome stuff!

Thanks for taking the time to share! Hoorah for silly and charming moments ✨

Ahhh thanks so much for playing! I'm glad to hear you had a moving experience. And thanks for the tattoo idea 😆 💚

Added some just now :)

I'm glad you've enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing :)

Hilarious yet uplifting. Will automatically play next time I see or hear a bird

Love this! So great to see trans joy 😊🏳️‍⚧️

Oh wow, that's so wonderful! Thank you for sharing, I'm so happy you got to both bask and cry 💚

Love it! I love that this manifesto invites care without shying away from the messiness...

Aw thanks for saying so! Hope you had a riotous time with your 'crone' 😆

A good question! I'd say the interruption can only happen once. So once the Interrupt Clock is filled, the players weave it into the story and resolve it, and then it can't happen again. 1-3s are now just whoopsies, with no further clock segment ticking.

I am open to changing the dice array though, since I did not playtest this game, but based it off another. If you do play, I'd be keen to hear your thoughts :)

There's a few examples, let's use a power outage. So each time the player rolls to make the Pizza Party happen, but gets a 1-3, they tick a segment on the Interrupt clock. When the clock is full, in this example, the power goes out and puts a stall in the Tboys Pizza Party planning. It's up to the players how they want to respond to this, and it adds further story beats to respond to.

Given the way the dice work, the Interruption will very likely happen, and very likely before the Chill clock is filled. This is designed so that there's an interesting climax built it, but it could happen at any moment rather than being pre-planned.

Does that make sense?

That's right, it's a prep timer. 

And yes, 6 on a d6. The number of d6s you roll depends on the number assigned to your stat. If you have a 1, you roll 1d6. If you have a 2, 2d6 and so on.

The Interrupt clock is basically a countdown to when the bad thing interferes. When it fills up, the chosen interruption happens and players have to overcome that on top of preparing for their chill time.

So cute!!!

So the aim of the game is for the tboys to do a chill thing, let's use the example of Pizza Party. To pull off the Pizza Party successfully, the players need to fill the Chill Clock. To do this, players narrate their actions (I'm going to clean the house!) and roll their dice to see how it goes (I'm going to roll with Tummy cos I'm using my body). If they roll a 6, they tick one segment of the Chill clock. Once the Chill clock has all segments ticked, the Pizza Party is ready! We narrate how awesome it is.

Does that answer your question about the Chill clock?

Do you mean you're confused about how they work, what happens when they fill up, or something else?

I love this! Can't wait to get it to a table :)

Thank you so much!! I'm really touched that people engage with this game deeply, as designed, and keep crying about it 💚💚💚

Thank you for sharing your experience :)

Not only contributed to, but made possible! Thanks for the compliment on my writing, but that piece would not exist without you. Art begets art!

I enjoyed my playthrough, and that I could choose to end it at any time really. Have a read!

---

Worn, Tired Faces Playthrough

I am a father, travelling with a motley caravan of other parents and children. We share childminding and other duties, all aiming to find a better place. Not all of us believe it exists, but I do.

Another day in the wasteland. As I travel with my family, I think of other families I have had. Different families in different places. Then, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, my brother stands before me. He caught up with our caravan moments ago, and found me while my thoughts distracted me. Though I've missed him fiercely since I left, I'd hoped to never see him again - because it would mean everyone else is dead and he's got nowhere else to go. We weep together that night and many nights after.

As the days pass, my mood swings. I am glad of this caravan of co-parents so that my more unhelpful moods can be had away from my child. Today I am angry, a sharp word always at the tip of my tongue, ready to fire at the slightest perceived grievance. Anahla, one of the other parents, comes to me and lets me fire my sharp words at her. At the end of them is more tears, and she holds me through those too. Anger is part of grieving, and I still hold anger at my parents, whom I now know are dead. After the weeping, I feel a little lighter, and can return to my share of childminding that night.

We stop at a small enclave to resupply and trade. I offer childminding to a few tired parents. One of them I recognise as someone I had lessons with. We were not close, but the reminder of that old home strikes my tender heart. I wonder how she found her way here, we are a great distance from that place. I ask her over a communal dinner, and she tells me that here is the sweetest birdsong she has ever heard. She wanted that for her children. If all else is drab, let her children's ears find joy.

I share the story of the birdsong with the caravan, and we decide to stay and extra night, just to hear it again. It is frivolous, we have a destination ahead of us, and much further to go. But seeing my old acquaintance's joy light up my child's face, and the other adults' face, and glow all the brighter on everyone - that is something to be treasured. And even more frivolous, I trade my spare sunhat for a wood carving of the birds we hear, that it might hold on to this joy for us for much more time to come.

After we leave the enclave, I find myself reminiscing during our travelling hours. I think of my childhood, and now that of my child. I think of the birdsong we heard, how much more of the fragments of this world my child has gotten to experience than many others I know. I hope that my child enjoys their life, and that whatever comes, the grow into adulthood with a strong sense of who they are and what they want.

That night, when I go to bed, I find my child still awake. He is staring at the bird wood carving, and tracing its shapes with his fingers. He murmurs the bird's name, and some facts about it he must have learned at the enclave. I am comforted to know that he has found something that excites him, that draws his interest. We talk and wonder about the bird until we both fall asleep.

I dream. I dream of my mother. It's a disjointed puzzle of a dream, memories spilling in and mixing with events that never happened. At one time, my mother is here with the caravan, painting birds on our wagon. At another time she is back home, cooking root vegetable stew. And at another time, she sits on a chair by the fire and ignores me.

When I wake, it seems many of us had vivid dreams the night before. I offhandedly mention my mother's dream-appearance, and Elia latches on to it. They ask more questions, in ways that I do sometimes enjoy, but not for this dream. They ask about my mother, our relationship, my grief journey now that she's dead. They don't mean any ill, but their questions do feel insensitive. I have to cut them off to tell them to drop it.

Ever since the enclave, my child's eyes dart around the sky and the trees, looking for birds. He pauses suddenly to listen for calls. It is endearing. During our lunch break, he comes to me saying, "Dad! Dad! I heard a bird by those bushes, come look!" When we arrive, the birds are either gone or hiding, we cannot see them, though we stand there for 20 minutes. After that, I excuse myself to help with the lunch pack up, but he stays. Just as we're about to leave, he returns and says, "I saw them, they're even bluer than the sky..."

I smile sadly. The sky used to be bluer too. Some days I wish I could forget how things were. They were still tough, but less so. The grass was greener, the waters were clearer, and the sky was bluer. But then again, if I forgot, perhaps I would not be able to imagine something better for my son.

On the third day of travel after the enclave, we rest. On this day, we do not travel, but sing and play games together. The current favourite among the children is Poison Smoke Cloud. In it, everyone is 'it', and if you get tagged, you link arms with your tagger to form a Poison Smoke Cloud. Slowly, the Clouds grow bigger until it is all one. I think there are some other rules too, but the details escape me. I wonder how this game first came to be. I don't recall a poison smoke cloud event, but some such thing must have happened to have become a children's game.

That night I cannot sleep. I'm not sure if it's due to Elia's prying, my thoughts of what the world used to be, or something else. But whatever I do, I cannot get to sleep. I like awake, watching my child breath. I trace the shapes of the wooden bird and try to remember the facts my son told me. I've just managed to recall them all when the sun rises.

Almost as soon as I get up, nausea overtakes me. I crumple to my knees and vomit. My son wakes and runs for help. My tent is cordoned off, and my son goes to his favourite co-parent for the day. He leaves the wooden bird to watch over me. I spend all day lying down, still unable to sleep. I recite the bird facts over and over until all words lose meaning. When the next night comes, I finally sleep.

The next day, I am weak. I have not eaten and only drunk water. From my tent, I watch Callun with the kids. He carries many at once, and they play climbing games on him. I envy his strength, and the fact that I can't recall the last time he got sick either...

On the third day after my nausea, I have almost fully recovered. Sleeping is still difficult, but it is getting better. All day and into the night Anahla sits by my tent, mending clothes. She narrates what is happening in the camp, keeping me up to date with the goings on so I don't feel left out.

Finally I am well again, and the rhythm of walking soothes me. This rhythm has been a companion for so long, I hardly know how I will spend my days after we reach our destination. What will I do with so many of my hours when our walking is done? I can't even fathom it.

But I need not fathom is just yet. There is much more journeying to do. An earthquake has created a crevasse we must cross, and perhaps a large body of water elsewhere that we had not anticipated. It is times like these I wonder if I will make it to our destination, and if, once I'm gone, my son will choose to continue on. But at dark times like these, I remember how excited he was when he heard birds in the bushes, and how he stayed until he saw them. If he can keep that fire in his eyes and joy in his heart, he will be ok no matter where we are.

Nice short, yet evocative game. Great for a solo journal on a Sunday afternoon! See my playthrough in the next comment if you're curious, thanks Kaylan! 😊

I'm glad you enjoyed! Thank you for sharing your culture with me, I learned a lot and enjoyed it :)

it is a beautiful day on the marae and you are a baby pūkeko

My name is Kikokia. My parents call me Kiko for short.

I am a baby! Maori, friendly, loved. And also funny and trusting.
I will grow up to be curious and cute.

I have big ass feet, a loud cry that tells all my friends I'm nearby, fluffed up feathers, and the largest, wettest eyes in my family 🥹.

Meet some of my friends!
> The whakairo carvings of the humansʼ tipuna (ancestors). They like to whisper history and stories to me! They tell the best stories ever.
> Tāwhirimātea, the atua (deity) of wind. He likes to tease me and send a breeze to ruffle up my feathers. It's good to have a friend to do a little rough play with sometimes.
> Te maunga, the mountain nearby. They like to watch everything around, including me! Sometimes I watch things with them. They have such a vast perspective.
> The marae ātea, the courtyard. This is the realm of Tūmatauenga, the ātua (deity) of people and war. The marae ātea teaches me how to stand up for myself and others. I'm still working on this skill.

Oh look, a rōpū (group) of people have arrived at my marae for a noho (stay)! A group of new friends just waiting to be made!
They're here to discuss the future of Māori people as a whole. It's a big, important, and serious kaupapa, they probably need some cheering up! Time to bring out the big guns: my great jokes!

Knock Knock
(Who's there?)
Howard
(Howard who?)
Howard I know?!
Hehehe

Hmm, most of them seem to enjoy my joke! But they get back to talking pretty quickly.

Ok, time for the powhiri.
I add the call of the words of the manu (birds), the plants, the rakau (trees), the maunga (mountain(s)), the awa (rivers), and the moana (ocean) into the karanga. Weʼre all important too. For this powhiri, I embody the maunga. It feels important to keep the wider perspective in mind.

Now time for the whaikōrero.
Iʼll recieve the koha (gift) that the manuhiri (guests) place after their kaikōrero. After all the kaikōrero have spoken, itʼs my cue to get it. Iʼll pick it up in my beak and take it back to the kaikōrero. Itʼs important to have someone important receive the koha, after all. I know this is pretty serious, so I'll walk carefully up to the koha and take it back to the kaikōrero. But I'll do a funny dance after!

After my dance is the hariru.
I want to meet everyone, and it helps that I'm already in the thick of it after handing on the koha.
Since I have called on te maunga, I am listening when they talk about the manuhiri and their tipuna. Te maunga says their tipuna are old friends of my tipuna, and that this reunion bodes well. Te maunga rarely calls things 'old', this must go way back!

I line up right at the front after the kaikōrero. I'm the koha holder after all! I'm important now. I am proud to hold a position for the non-human ones. The nearest kaikōrero is a friend. I've heard him practising his purakau around the marae. I hope he feels supported by my presence.

Now is time for the whakanoa! There are 15 manuhiri at this noho, I better introduce myself to a few of them.
> Te Pai (she/they/ia) is the rangatira (chief), so I go right up and introduce myself to her first. I show them my funny dance from before, so she can recognise who I am. I recite my whakapapa and wait for her response. She seems pleased, so I share a purakau of this marae. Sharing stories is a good way to get to know people.
> Te Hau (he/him/ia) is a kaumatua (elder), another important person. He surely has many stories to tell. Maybe I can learn more about their tipuna, and what te maunga was hinting at. He looks a little cold, so I brush my fluffy feathers against him for warmth while he talks.
> Ngarra (she/her) is another kaumatua. She comes over while Te Hau is talking and adds layers to his story. She points at her tattoos, showing things I don't quite understand. I look up at her with my wet eyes to show I value her stories even if I don't fully understand them.
> Seo-jun (they/them) is a kaitōrungapū (politician). I don't see many of those so I figured I better go have a look. I walk up dignified-ly, strutting my big ass feet. They appear rightfully impressed. A small group forms around us as we converse. There is much nodding and kind gestures.

Now it's our turn to share the whakapapa of the marae. I got in a bit of practise with Te Pai so I just keep things pretty quick, I'm worried I messed things up by doing it out of order. I talk about te maunga first, and then the whakairo. I almost stop there because I think I've talked too much, but the manuhiri smiled so warmly I kept going! I talked about Tāwhirimātea and finally the marae ātea, which holds us all now, and reminds us to be proud and hold boundaries at the same time as we meet to work together.

Eventually, it is dinner time. I can't chop things or cook things, but I can fetch pretty well! I do drop some ingredients too... but humans also do that! I was definitely helpful and not in the way.

Over dinner, I introduce Te Pai to the marae ātea. I think they need to talk to each other, just as much as Te Pai needs to speak with my whanau. They donʼt talk too much about themselves, instead they mostly bond over knowing me. I blush when they compliment my storytelling, and feel understood when they remember which stories matter most to me. They gang up on my potential as a storyholder, but that's a lot of responsibility!

The next day the weather takes a turn for the worse. The wind is howling and breaking tree branches. It feels like a tohu from Tāwhirimātea. Did I do something wrong? Is my friend ok?
I decide to introduce Tāwhirimātea to Ngarra. I think that she has the best chance of understanding what's going on. Turns out theyʼre actually old friends! They understand each other in a way I have never understood either of them. I feel a bit left out and like I don't know things I should. They both notice my sad eyes and remind me that I'm still a baby, I have lots of time to learn things.

The day after Tāwhirimātea is appeased, a big decision is made within the group, a decision that will impact all Maori people. I think it is the right decision because they are going to consult te maunga before they make it official - that was my idea!
I introduce te maunga to Seo-jun. As they talk, they realise they have a lot in common with each other. They both think of the bigger picture, of what it means to be a good ancestor and to care for your descendants even before they are born. I also like to think about my descendants, who will one day be babies like me! I don't really think in big pictures though, I just see what's in front of me, just one day at a time. Maybe when I'm older I'll think like that.

We arrive at the final dinner, and this time I stay out of the kitchen and help with where everyone should sit instead. But I want everyone to be friends with everyone, it's so hard!!
I do make sure to place the whakairo carvings next to Te Hau so they can share stories though. They also have a lot in common - so many stories! I also like stories, but I don't know nearly as many as they do. I'll just have to live some more and remember them.

After this noho marae, I've gained some weight! I ate a bunch of very yummy food. I like that I have more friends now, and that I've practiced my storytelling. I know I bit more about my strengths and weaknesses and I like that I can contribute proudly.

Well, I'm pretty tired after all that... wait what do you mean I have relatives coming over tomorrow?!

Would it be weird if I just posted my playthrough here in the comments Riwhi?

Omg new takataapui game let's goooooo

What a ride! My gladiator Plautius had a very memorable career. Fought many opponents, nearly got taken out by a lasso, and made it all the way to the Colosseum! Didn't quite become Champion, but retired honourably.

Well designed game and visually impressive rulebook and character sheet. I admit I did get confused a few times by the ordering of information, but nevertheless I do recommend it!

Oh wow, that's so wonderful! Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts :)

Thank you KJ 💚💚

Thank you 💚💚

Loved it! Great concept, music, design, story bits. If you ever make a longer game, I'd love to play it :)

Dang, these community copies are disappearing fast! I've added more just now. Would love to hear how your game goes 😊

Congrats on your first shot! That's a wonderful milestone 😊

I'm so glad you found it affirming and sweet, and I love the thought of the care in this document spreading far and wide, to your partner and anyone else reading out there.

Thanks for the kind words 💖

Really like this concept for building a mystery and solving it! I was literally thinking earlier today about a language deciphering game idea, and I think this will really help. Thanks Kaden!

Just had a reread of the doc, and it is quite light on mechanics, as it is modeled after and inspired by No Dice, No Masters / Belonging Outside Belonging games, particularly Wanderhome. If you're familiar with Wanderhome I think you'll see the similarities, but I've tidied up the Moves a little to make it clearer. Thanks for the prompt 😊

Thanks Bez! This was thrown together pretty quickly for a jam, so it is definitely less developed than I'd like. That being said, having your interest does give me motivation to continue designing...

If you do want to use any part of this game (for Dexlite or elsewhere), please go ahead, I'd love to hear how it goes!

Thank you! Cozy is definitely what I was going for, I always find fire tending a cozy activity 😊

Hey hey, just added some more now. Thanks for asking :)

Thanks so much for saying so! That makes me very happy to hear :)

This is cool!! I'm a sucker for a picklist, and I love the mechanism of adding options to picklists. Cool stuff, I'll try get it to my table!

You are correct, the first person stays on the joker and the second person continues play until they also make it to the joker. 

I’m just a hopeless romantic haha, being inspired by songs is atypical for me