Play game of patience
The Soul Machine's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| SCREAM MACHINES | #1 | n/a | n/a |
| BEST GAME | #16 | 3.536 | 3.750 |
| SCARIEST GAME | #38 | 2.475 | 2.625 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Surreal, minimal and numbly sad. This feels as much like a ritual or a meditation as it does like a game - it leans into the ritualistic aspects of the mechanics and the premise - the counting of the tokens, the separating out of the cards - which feels effective.
Some aspects of the rules could perhaps be described more clearly. For example, I wasn't 100% sure what the aces are for: it says in the example round that pulled court cards are added to the aces, but this isn't mentioned elsewhere in rules. I might have just missed this, though.
The consistency in tone works really well, and makes even just reading the rules feel like part of the experience – almost like an actor staying in character when talking to the audience after the play. “Never spare a knight” - great!
This idea of counting amassed piles of bodies is devious! As Christine said, I guess there's nothing more horrific than reducing death to something cold and calculating. I love how the mechanics are in aid of a machine that warps the dead into create anew. The game itself offers some fun interpretive potential with how servicing the machine plays into the fate of the town. Great idea!
Thanks for submitting The Soul Machine to the SCREAM MACHINE game jam!
- SCREAM CATALOGUE
This game is a really captivating meditation on loss at a distance and how we perceive mortality as a number. I really enjoyed playing the Soul Machine, and thought the theming of it was simple but every evocative. The mechanics were easy to learn, and I appreciated the example of play. Aside from a couple typos, I was highly impressed by this game and look forward to more!
Thank you so much for your very thoughtful comment! (If you remember where the typos are, I'd love to have them pointed out tbqh <3)
wow its very elaborate and I suppose there's something about having all the objects set out and its almost witchcraft like that i really enjoy, i haven't played much D&D but i imagine this game would be a lot of fun. i saved it to my desktop i'll see if my friend wants to play it
Thanks for your comment! You don't need D&D experience for the Soul Machine. It was designed as a solo experience, but it you figure out an enjoyable way to run it with a pal, more power to you!