itch.io

No dates yet, benoitt. Subscribers of the Foul Play newsletter will be the first to get an update.

Ha Tom, stuur ons even een mailtje op foulplayrpg [at] gmail [dot] com 😉

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'll be honest, when boardgaming geeks talk about the stories those games tell, I'm often unable to identify with their enthusiasm. This is probably because I lack some skill: I'm too busy trying not to make a fool of myself to notice any emerging narratives. Escape the Kronos is different. This rogue-like card game finally made it click how a game I strive to win can also take me on a journey.

Trying to escape a space ship that is being attacked by a xenomorph-like monster is a win or lose situation, but it's also a plot. You'll try and survive the ship, even as it catches on fire, long enough to get your exit in order. It won't be easy. The monster is gaining on you, nothing will deter it forever.

Materially, you are manipulating two hands full of cards. Each represents a different part of the story, and one after the other, they'll travel to the front of the order, where you'll have to deal with them. The monster, too, travels through your hand. You'll see it get closer and closer, and while you can manipulate the order of the cards to delay and divert it, it will never stop coming.

Unless, of course, you manage to escape.

If Michael does give this game the crowdfunding treatment, I'll be at the front of the line to get my hand of cards.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I recently received my print-on-demand copy of the new edition, and I can't wait to go back to this game. I look forward to giving it more room to breathe—a session or three—to really languish in the transformation of the adventurers. I think there is much to feel here, things that might need a little more time to come forward. I'm ready to draw them out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Look, this is supplement finally got me to read Virginia Woolf's The Waves. Not on it's own, but it was the last push I deeded. I'd tried, up until this year, to read the novel in it's original English, and failed. My command of the language is good, but somehow Woolf in particular keeps kicking my ass.

A good friend started reading translations of some of Woolf's novels in 2023. She couldn't have recommended it more whole-heatedly. The level of enjoyment and understanding she experienced was worth every little loss that might occur in translation—if there even was much of a loss.

I'd been thinking about leaving part of my snobbery in 2024 and after reading this supplement, I did. And while I'm happy to have read the novel, reading it after becoming familiar with Good Society and it's gamification of literary storytelling was even more fulfilling. It opened up a new perspective on the stories a game could tell, and how.

O look at that. That's confusing. Don't mind it, it's indeed a duplicate.

You meant adapt the sheets of cards to fit the eight page mini-zine format, right? I'm propsing to release a black-and-white version of the A5 booklet.

Hi Derpy! I'm so glad you had fun with our geese. I see what you mean, but we really like our deck of cards! Feel free to bash something together your own use, of course. (I can see about a printer-friendly version of the booklet though, if that is of any help?)

Thanks! I'm still a little flabbergasted, but it's so cool how many people have found the game since.

Hi Luciana! Thanks for asking. You only need to cut out all the cards of the print-at-home deck. No further assembly is required.

I'll look into putting up a blueprint for the box. It closed with velcro, which is not that DIY friendly—so we're hesitant.

Hi! If you, as a participant of the jam, would like a download key for The Girls of the Genziana Hotel to check it out, let me know! I'll figure out a way to send one to 'ya!

Thanks for your questions and your sharp eye. I'm working on a new draft, so I can immediately correct that mistake (and upgrade the explanation of the Night phase).

A full game of The Girls of the Genziana Hotel, in which you answer all three questions, takes about five sessions. You can probably get it in four if you power through, or it might take six if you really take your time role-playing. A one shot in which you answer only the first question is feasible in a tightly focused four hour session, especially if you lower the Complexity of that first Question by one.

On the Night Phase and the Dreams: you're on the right track, but play is a lot faster than you're imagining. Instead of an 'action' being a full scene with thematic unity, it's actually a smaller unit inside of a scene. While you, as the Mistress, can always decide to be a little more flexible, there are two basic moments for cutting to another girl or the next Dream prompt. These are:

• Narrative leading up to a move and rolling the dice.
• Narrating the result of a move and continueing the scene.

If you think this'll mean you cut and move the spotlight a lot, you're right, and that exactly how intense the Night should be. In terms of your first schema, it looks something like this:

• A answers the first Dream prompt.
• The Mistress frames a scene for B, and asks, what do you do? B starts to narrate what their girl does, up to triggering a Move.
• The Mistress cuts to C, frames the situation of their girl, and asks, what do you do? C begins to narrate the actions of their girl, up to triggering a Move.
• A answers the second Dream prompt.
• B rolls for their Move, and they and the Mistress narrate how the scene changes and the direction in which it will continue.
• C rolls for their Move ...

And so forth. Believe me, this will result in tense, cinematic play with eerie, threatening undertones.

After the last Dream prompt has been answered, you play one more series of "actions", likely the aftermath of some Moves. After that, the Night ends abruptly and you move onto the Dawn phase, exactly like you said.

With respect to answering the prompts, you've got it. If only one girl is awake, they answer. If there's two, they take turns answering. If there's three girls and they're all awake: A answers the first, B the second, C the third, A the fourth, and then, after the last round of actions, the Night ends.

Just casually dropping a whole new format for designers to tinker with.

Will do! Thanks for the reply.

Hi there! Love the look and premise, I'm keen to start reading. I recieved the email about the itch.io version today, but the link to claim the game only works for kickstarter backers. Since I bought the digital version through Backerkit, I'm unable to add it to my library here. I'd love to have that option too! (Sorry for dropping a comment, by the way, but the updates' comment section is also unaccesable for me.) 

Those are such lovely words to read this Friday morning. I really appreciatie you taking the time to tell me, and I, of course, also hope you can get to play the game!

O, especially that last one is an error I'd rather correct sooner than later! Thanks.

Even or especially if you've ever bounced off of solo games: give this game a try. This game leaves journaling to the people with time and patience, and gives us, busy people who just want to get into it, a fist full of dice and colored markers.

Mikey Hamm made a really fun yahtzee rogue-lite game about being a post-apocalyptic wizard braving the ruins of the world in search of resources. It's great. You'll like it. I promise.

My heart skipped a beat, but you're right, it was just an export goof. I've reuploaded. Thanks for all the kind words!

Thank you!

Can't wait to play this!

Thanks! I'd love to hear your thoughts once the ashcan hits the web

Riley really made Trophy her own. Just take a look—you'll see! 

There are a couple of adventures I've been meaning to finish!

Thanks for your interest! Maybe in the future? I don't really know when I will have time to get back to this, and if I do, I will probably want to take it from a playset to a full game using the new SRD. That's quite a project, so I'll need to find a couple of months.

I ran into the above problem as well when trying the board for Saint Lazare: the board asks for a password.

I'm sorry for the lack of a reply! The download works fine now 👌🏻 The lay-out does make it hard to read though, so I've committed to the pdf. 

(Found the first mistake I missed already. There just had to be one. Karma!)

I'm having a little trouble downloading the epub. It doesn't come up in the files after I press Download Now. Am I doing something wrong?

That's great! Thanks a lot.

Would it be OK to ask for a printer friendly version? I'd love to read this off of an A4, it's a little dense for my screen.

This is really beautiful.

Do I understand correctly that this playset ignores boons?

Great to see! :) 

It´s nice to know that you would first branch out to handle the pre- and post-race moves. It would be really interesting to see how the race could influence those and vice versa. 

This looks cool! I´d love to see a general plan for improvement to draw me in for a boost.

Just two little comments: the clock graph next to the Alarm Clock section is parted six ways instead of four, and, in that section, the Alarm Clock seems to also be called a Threat Clock, which might be confusing.

The dice mechanics seems like it could result in some nice tough choices! I like that a lot.