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Wow... I really can't express how meaningful that is to hear. That's really all I wanted to do with this game. So it's deeply gratifying to hear that it reached someone in the way I hoped it might. Truly made my day, thank you so much. 

And yes, absolutely! I'd be honored, and would be happy to talk with you about the translation, however works best for you. 

And I appreciate the typo catch! I'm actually about to run a playtest and will  do a few edits based on that and some other notes, then will upload an update soon, and will fix the error you noticed as well!

Once again, thank you so much for the kind words. It really means the world to me. 

How dare you see me. 

Thank you.

I'm going to print this out and look at it next time I start fighting the War. 

Hey thank you so much! If you get a chance to play it, I would love to hear how it goes! 

In my personal experience, the game is best enjoyed as a LARP. Trying to really *embody* the Word is what connects me with the world and the characters. 

As an aside: it's a really easy game to hack! My girlfriend and I replaced the word with a different one, and it let to a similar but very distinct play experience! 

Best of all, you can play the whole game in just a few minutes! Great for parties. Definitely one of my favorite short-form indie RPGs.

Heya! I just wanted to let you know that I've published another update to the system which, among other things, adds some tools that I think will help a lot with solo play! 

Thank you so much for this feedback! It's incredibly helpful.

Responding to your questions / observations:

• Hunter (specifically Hunter: the Vigil) is definitely an inspiration! As was the Wyrm / Pentex / the Fomori. I should maybe add the latter to the list of Touchstones, actually. The needle I'm trying to thread here is between describing a very bleak and uncompromising setting to serve as a stark backdrop for the ethics and decisions of the characters, but not making it so dreary and unrelentingly depressing that nobody wants to play it! I'm glad it seems intriguing enough to not be an instant turn-off, at least. 

• Because it's such an intense game, I think a long-term campaign would be difficult to sustain on a purely emotional level. I imagine that games would be single "episodes" of 1-3 sessions or relatively short "arcs" of maybe 7-10. Which means that I do expect characters to burn out relatively fast. But at the same time, I don't want it to be so lethal that the players don't have time to get to know them (and thus feel the impact). I did think about giving a way to "heal" relationships, but decided against it. I'll need to playtest the death spiral to see how fast it tightens though, and how that feels. 

• The point about the character's own abilities is a good one. In my current thinking, the idea was essentially that your relationships *are* your abilities, in that if you, say, know how to shoot, one of your Tethers taught you that. But I see that it's not really explained in the text. Plus, I think it might be a bit muddled. Separating those out may work better, though I'm not sure how to distinguish them mechanically without adding unnecessary complexity. 

Anyway, once again, I really can't thank you enough for taking the time to engage with this. If you end up doing a solo playthrough, I would love to hear how it went and any notes you may have. Honestly, just the idea that someone might actually play the weird little game I made absolutely makes my day!

Hello! I've written a tabletop roleplaying game I could submit to this Jam. Are those accepted, or only digital games? 

Heya! I just wanted to let you know that I've posted another revision, which I hope makes some of the answers to these questions clearer. 

I just added an introduction to the game text, reproducing the text on this page. Thanks again! 

You're welcome! Thanks for your art! I actually just took that game down and replaced it with a different but related one, a more fully realized evolution of the system. It still uses a couple of your pieces, though more heavily edited and layered with other images. Here's the link!

https://intrepid-gremlin.itch.io/before-the-worms

Thank you so much for your feedback! I've edited the page to include a more direct description of the game, and will include something similar in an updated version of the text itself. I really appreciate you taking the time to engage, and would love to hear any other critiques or advice you may have. 

Hi!

I wanted to let you know that I just published a system using your excellent art. 

Here's the link if you want to take a look (it's free)! 

https://intrepid-gremlin.itch.io/needful-sorrows

Hello! I was hoping to use this piece (as well as a number of other entries from the "Artifacts of Horror" jam) for a game I'm working on. I don't see any licensing information though.

Is it alright if I use this for my project? I'd be happy to send it to ya when it's done! 

As so many others have said, this was such a powerful and moving experience. I'm someone who struggles with indecision, with the fear of regret, with the weight of all the "what-ifs". Being able to live so many lives, to go down all the paths and explore possibilities to my heart's content... and then to see that -- if I didn't give up --  there were truly no wrong answers, that any path could lead to happiness and contentment... it gave me a sense of calm and freedom I haven't felt in a long time. And it made my final choice all the more meaningful.

So thank you for that, and for these beautiful characters, and this fascinating world, and your wonderful words.

And thank you for all the work you did to make it real! I've been writing an IF game in Twine for the first time and it is so. much. work. But you've inspired me!

I'm glad you're living in this time-stream, and that I'm here to appreciate this creation.