itch.io

This is so neat!! Thank you!

That's exactly the cycling dynamic I had in mind. But it's a teenie little tool, I invite you to make it into whatever you need it to be!

Thank you!!! ❤ That's probably my favourite robochild, but it's a close call with @crypto_botany

Thank you! The link has been updated, unfortunately not with the same shuffle and draw feeling. I'll check back and see if the original has been fixed.

A game of pips and palaces, tiles and temples...

What city reveals itself to you?

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There's something about cities and secrets that just gets me going. Inspired by Italo Calvino's famous encyclopedia of impossible cities and work I've been doing on a Twitter bot, Domino City is a small, lightweight project you can use to make a little urban space. I encourage adaptations and remixes, and rule-breaking of all sorts!

If you do end up remixing Domino City, I'd love to see it. :-)

This is as much a toy as anything, so have some light fun and see what happens!

All the best,

Ewan Matthews

You are the Last Magus, out of your tower, witnessing the world you once knew crumble, fall to pieces. The shadows grow long, and in these final days of this Age of Magic, you sense a familiar presence beckoning you from the shadows, calling you to rest.

It is Death. It is patient.

Your work is not yet done. This is the world that you loved for all your long life, filled with marvelous places and the most precious of people. Uncertainty reigns. You can bring order to the world, even as your magic dwindles. This chaos strikes like birthing pains, so you must deliver the world into another Age, one where you will be absent and they will live on, remembering.

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Hello there! I'm happy to announce my second print-and-play adventure, The Last Magus! It is a TTRPG where you travel through the Provinces of the Empire, discover what catastrophes are destroying the land, and imagine spells and schemes, large and small, to restore order. All the while, you are being watched by the force of Death. You must bargain with Death for time, if you are to heal the land.

I made this game by fusing some really inspiring and cool influences for me. These include the mysterious and awesome narrative properties of the tarot (which you can print or emulate online), epic fantasy magic, the idea of Death as a character with their own mysterious motivations, and the trope of the lone wanderer. I think they blend nicely and I hope you really enjoy it!

This is a game that conforms to what you want to do. 

Use it to exercise your role-playing mage muscles! Use it to feel like a badass, or to explore the idea of being a healing force in the world. Use it to practice your writing skills, turn sections into stories, write out the narrative of your encounters with death. Use this game for divination and to connect with the tarot.

If you'd like, take each new province as an opportunity to worldbuild. Think about the geography and industry of each province, and tie that into the emergent crisis. Think about power structures, magic systems, races, ideologies, cultures, languages, and foods. I was inspired by the tabula rasa of the Empire presented in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, the infinite possibilities described there.

Maybe you'd prefer to use this as an exercise in characterization: How does each disaster affect your Magus? Does it bring up old memories, and regrets? How can someone live while the world around them falls apart? After all, the Magus is not just a piece on the board, but an empathetic intelligence moving across beloved landscapes, visiting gorgeous and beautiful cities, interacting with complex people and cultures. They are a part of this world, and doing everything they can to heal it.

My hope is that something, even something quite small, connects with you in this game. The Last Magus is an exercise in whatever kind of imagination you want it to be.

I will be considering putting community copies up for grabs on May 14th, the day that Carta Jam ends. This took a lot of work and passion so it isn't free, but it is only $1! As I did with my last Print-and-Play, I may make a Twine edition for free that lacks visuals (unless I can figure those out), and includes more written passages by me. I don't want to make a less refined product for free, but that way I get to put more of my writing out there.

Last note, making a game for Carta Jam was rewarding and not too difficult! Consider making your own game using a simple deck of playing cards or tarot! Thanks for reading, and enjoy checking it out!

This is such a cool idea! I love that it could create another sense of progression, a different dimension of movement, or a new resource for players to manipulate creatively. I'm excited to see how you implement it!

So lovely!

I just did my first playtest, I'm replacing the deck with tarot cards and relying on player interpretation. I've had a lot of fun so far. Thanks for the challenge! Just gotta think of the ending!

The world is changing, and it burns in your wake.

Together, you must outrun the strange forces that are sowing chaos. But in your path is the Tower, a spear through the heavens, dark as obsidian. You flee danger but are dragged inexorably closer to that impossible axis...

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The Settlers Print-and-Play Adventure is a game about taking risks in order to survive, finding solace in each others' company, and looking for beauty in the natural world. It's a freeform game designed to fill whatever hole you want it to! Make it high fantasy, throw in some sci-fi, or drag your Settlers through a world of utter horror. Play alone or with friends, on paper or with a pdf! It's a ttrpg that only asks for your imagination and a little empathy for your characters.

If you choose, it's a bit of an exercise in character creation and, ultimately, writing! Use your favourite original character, or treat it like fan fiction. Grab a notebook or open a word doc and write their story as it happens. You may want to expand on it later! 

The world is malleable, and everything is canon. The game is inspired by the world and woes of the original TwitFic Settlers, who have been journeying through the Twitterverse since 2017. You can see what the Settlers' life looks like at @The_Settlers_. 

Don't have a tarot deck? No problem! There's a simulated one on the game page!

Thanks for reading! Have fun with it. (Or get tragic!)

Ewan Matthews

This is a beautiful experience! I haven't found the tome yet, but I'm going to keep trying!

Neat idea @Qt01! Definitely meta with the irl mouse-click on the digital mouse, and a worthwhile comment on the absurdity of clicker games. There is no end to this game, and no point to keep clicking, but people do it all the time! I'll never understand why... Clever submission, anyways!